The Theories of Creationism and Evolution

Creationism is the conviction that all life and matter on this planet was made by a divine being or incomparable being. It expresses that a divine being is the maker of all, and that he (or she) made everything from nothing. This is a solid conviction of many, and genuinely repudiates logical reasoning. One can not make reference to creationism and not say something regarding the Bible s creation story. It happens more than seven days in which God makes the universe from nothing. Furthermore, the earth was without shape and void (beginning 1:1) The breakdown of creation is as per the following: Day 1 God made light and isolated it from the dull, making day and night. Day 2 God made the water beneath and the sky above. Day 3 God caused earth and made plants to develop on it in bounty. Day 4 God made the moon, the sun, the stars and the planets. Day 5 God made the flying creatures of the sky and the animals of the remote oceans. Day 6 God made the creatures and the people of earth. Day 7 God rested after work. This clarification of creation is lectured in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Since the time the possibility of development occurred, (see Part II) creation researcher, have been attempting to demonstrate their hypothesis over advancement. They refer to these significant issues: 1. There are no transitional connections and middle of the road shapes in either the fossil record or the cutting edge world, which implies, there is no genuine proof that advancement has happened either previously or the present. 2. Regular choice (the alleged development instrument, alongside changes) is unequipped for propelling a living being to a â€Å"higher-request. 3. Despite the fact that evolutionists express that life came about because of non-life, matter came about because of nothing, and people came about because of creatures, each of these is an inconceivability of science and the characteristic world. 4. The alleged primates (animals in the middle of gorilla and human that evolutionists accept used to exist) bones and skull record utilized by evolutionists frequently comprises of 'findsùž which are altogether unrevealing and conflicting. They are neither clear nor decisive despite the fact that evolutionists present them as though they were. 5. Nine of the twelve famously assumed primates are really wiped out gorillas/monkeys and not part human by any means. 6. The last three guessed primates set forth by evolutionists are really present day individuals and not part monkey/chimp by any stretch of the imagination. Accordingly, every one of the twelve of the alleged primates can be clarified as being either completely monkey/chimp or completely current human however not as something in the middle. 7. The stone layers discovers (layers of covered fossils) are better clarified by an all inclusive flood than by development. Utilizing these and different contentions, Creationists (the individuals who put stock in creationism) have battled for what they accept thus far have had some intriguing effects with regards to the country and around the globe. For example, as of late in Kansas, the educational committee announced that advancement was to be removed the science educational program. It was not to be educated. By any stretch of the imagination. Part II Advancement: The conviction that all life developed, or transformed into what it is today. Charles Darwin began the entire advancement upheaval in the wake of considering animals in the Galapagos Islands. He distributed his disputable book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, which showed up in 1859. Darwin is hailed as the dad of present day speculations of advancement. Normal use of the word â€Å"evolution† is the possibility that living things in our reality have appeared through unguided common procedures beginning from a primitive soup of subatomic particles and radiation, over around 20 billion years. The possibility of development that was expressed above can be vastly clarified utilizing a mix of the accompanying four investigations: 1. Cosmology is the part of space science that manages the inception and development of the general structure of the universe. 2. Abiogenesis alludes to first life, which is the creation of living things from lifeless issue. 3. Full scale advancement or general development alludes the movement to increasingly complex types of life. The method of large scale development, including whether miniaturized scale advancement over a long enough time prompts full scale development, can be viewed as a â€Å"research topic.† 4. Smaller scale advancement or speciation alludes to populace and species change all through time. There are numerous instances of speciation, if by the advancement of another â€Å"species† we are alluding to improvement of another populace of animals which won't breed with the first populace to deliver feasible posterity. Miniaturized scale development is a logical certainty which nobody, including creationists, can contest. The acknowledged ways if clarifying miniaturized scale development are â€Å"mutation† and â€Å"natural selection.† Transformations are â€Å"mistakes† in the hereditary material utilized for multiplication, which can happen for some reasons (model: because of presentation to radiation.) Naturally happening changes are uncommon, and it is comprehended that the ones that do happen, practically all have a terrible impact. The periodic positive change, giving some advantage to the life form, gives the â€Å"new material† to normal choice to work with. Common determination depends on the idea that there is variety among animals in a populace. Common determination says that those people who have some bit of leeway in their condition, (for example, being a quicker sprinter, having a superior disguise, and so on.) are bound to have more posterity, which makes the likelihood of giving the preferred position to people in the future. The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) is ordinarily a whitish moth secured with dark spots. This shading gives a viable disguise for the moths as they sit on certain sorts of birch trees. Like individuals, notwithstanding, these moths can be found in a scope of hues from exceptionally dark to extremely white and all the shades in the middle. In a well known investigation in England it was discovered that when the white trees, on which the moths sat, got grimy (dim) from contamination, fowls ate a greater amount of the lighter moths, obviously missing the darker ones in light of their mixing in with the trees. It was nothing unexpected that the number of inhabitants in darker moths expanded while the lighter ones diminished. Later on, when the city showed signs of improvement contamination laws the trees came back to a lighter shading. Alongside this, the lighter moths multiplied and the darker ones dwindled in numbers. This is plainly regular choice in real life, yet is it advancement? Not so much, except if regular variety inside species that occurs in all plants and creatures is called â€Å"evolution.† The issue with calling this kind of variety development is that it is constrained. There are, for instance, more than 150 types of mutts perceived by the AKC and more are included every year, except they are on the whole pooches. You can choose for hounds with long ears or short ears, go for huge canines or little mutts, however you can’t select for hounds with flippers. The explanation is self-evident, there are no qualities for wings in the genetic stock of the pooch. Along these lines, pooches will be remain canines and Peppered Moths will be Peppered Moths. Part III Allow the gathering to start: The battle and differentiation of creationist thoughts and those of evolutionists. The issue between the creationist and the evolutionists is that they have no shared conviction. Their speculations depend on a win big or bust idea. On the off chance that one is acknowledged, the other is disposed of. That is only the manner in which they are set up. Along these lines, the fight seethes on. Each side has had their triumphs and disillusionments. Probably the best personalities on the planet are attempting to demonstrate to all individuals that their thoughts are better. For example, some creationist contend there is definitely not a solitary known instance of a really decent transformation, one having no negative reactions. This can be handily contended with utilizing the isn't reaction that everyone recalls from youth. Shockingly for the creationists, there is logical proof all science depends on hypothesis. Hypothesis can without much of a stretch be exposed, contingent upon how the information is taken a gander at. The war proceeds. In another occasion creationists state that characteristic determination can just choose: among previously existing qualities it can't make something new, for example, hounds with wings. While this thought has not been refuted, it has not been demonstrated genuine either. Evolutionists can excuse this announcement by saying that ordinary hereditary changes happen and normal choice assists. The winding of contention is endless. The explanation that the different sides can never agree on anything goes past convictions into semantics. Each side uses the word hypothesis in an unexpected way. Evolutionists consider hypothesis to be a logically provable and repeatable arrangement of conditions. Creationists utilize the word hypothesis as what somebody might suspect or assumes will occur. Thus creationism can be known as a hypothesis equivalent to the hypothesis of advancement. To the extent anyone can see this battle between these two camps has no completion. For whatever length of time that there is no unmistakable proof to demonstrate somehow, individuals will contend over these two speculations and intellectual prowess will be spent. Regardless of whether there were an end to this fight, there would in any case be some who wouldn t accept, thus there would at present be debate. Who knows? Nothing can be demonstrated.

Internal Controls

Presentation Chorafas (2001) notes â€Å"Internal Control is a powerful framework covering a wide range of hazard, tending to extortion, guaranteeing straightforwardness, and making conceivable dependable money related announcing. Past dangers, interior control objectives are the protection of advantages, account compromise, and compliance.†Advertising We will compose a custom article test on Internal Controls explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Limitations of ABC Co.’s Internal Control System The inside control framework is intended to distinguish and deflect extortion, material misquotes and blunders and oversights. Anyway it can just offer sensible assurance that there isn’t material error in the budget summaries. No inward control framework, anyway detailed, can be without anyone else ensure proficient organization and culmination and precision of the records nor would it be able to be evidence against false arrangement, particularly with r espect to those holding places of power and trust. This is for the most part because of the accompanying inalienable restrictions of an inward control framework: (a) Management needs to guarantee that the advantages anticipated from an inner control framework exceed the expenses. Thus certain significant controls probably won't be set up because of the costs in question. For example a little substance probably won't have the assets to utilize adequate staff to guarantee appropriate isolation of obligations. (Spencer Pickett, 2010). (b) Most inward controls will in general be coordinated towards routine exchanges as opposed to non-routine exchanges. This leaves holes that can be misused. (c) Human blunder because of indiscretion, interruption, slip-ups of judgment and misconception directions could sabotage the inward control framework. 2 instances of Internal Control Procedures and their execution â€Å"Control procedures† implies those approaches and techniques (notwithstand ing the control condition) which the executives has built up to accomplish the entity’s explicit goals. Explicit inner control strategies include:Advertising Looking for paper on business financial matters? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Arithmetical and bookkeeping control These are techniques inside the bookkeeping capacity, which watch that exchanges are approved, effectively and precisely recorded. This is planned for guaranteeing culmination and exactness of the bookkeeping records. These methodology can be actualized through the accompanying ways: (Godwin 2010) Use of normalized documentation, raised at each phase of the exchange. Utilization of pre-numbered reports. Reports ought to be given in succession. Screen development of reports by utilization of a register. Creation of extraordinary reports for instance when a neighborhood buy request has been raised and the request has not been satisfied by the provi der. Compromise between the various records and related control accounts. Isolation of obligations This alludes to the partition of the different obligations and duties to such an extent that one individual can't process and record total exchanges from starting as far as possible without being checked by someone else. For instance, in the acquisition of a company’s fixed resources, a solitary individual ought not approve the buy, put in the request, get the benefit and record the exchange in the bookkeeping records. This is planned for limiting the danger of mistake and additionally purposeful control of data. In such manner, for each exchange the accompanying capacities ought to be performed by various people and divisions however much as could reasonably be expected and practicable. This is the means by which this methodology is actualized: Initiation Authorization †various degrees of the board ought to be given position constrains with respect to what they can approve or submit the company’s assets. As far as possible ought to rely upon the position, trustworthiness, capabilities and fitness. Execution †exchanges ought to be done by people free from the individuals who approve the exchanges. In the event that one individual approves use an alternate individual ought to execute. Care of the advantage †authorities approving/executing an exchange ought not have care to the benefits emerging out of the exchange. Recording Segregation of obligations additionally covers inside check which alludes to the exercises of one individual must be correlative to the exercises of another or exposed to autonomous checking. Side effects of an absence of Internal Control Signs that an inner control framework might be missing incorporate (however are not restricted to) such factors as: the executives neglecting to practice proper due consideration and right management of staff. â€Å"These side effects can be distinguished by missing documentation and recognized mistakes in the record adjusts; and the absence of an expansive morals policy.† (Herrera 2010). Another sign that demonstrates an absence of interior control is that absence of isolation of obligations is obvious. This thus infers individuals from staff approach assignments (and are performing them) and this is causing logical inconsistencies in the ordinary designated obligations. Effect of ABC Co.’s missing diary section on their fiscal reports If the organization needs to pay protection of $1500 in January, for instance, however in genuine sense it is for the 3 months that follow, it turns into a cost as a result of the diary passage that is absent. These blunders of oversight for the most part bring about mistaken proportion examinations which thusly cause the board to settle on inadmissible choices dependent on money related data that contains inaccuracies.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Internal Controls explicitly for you f or just $16.05 $11/page Learn More Horngren et al (1999) takes note of that â€Å"†¦the accounting report shows not exactly precise current resources and the salary explanation shows that there are a greater number of costs brought about than there really are. Altering section will be required, however the announcements during the most recent three months were deficient† References Chorafas, D.N. (2001). Actualizing and reviewing the inside control framework. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Godwin, N., et al. (2010). Money related ACCT. Stamford, CT: Cengage. Spencer, H., Pickett, J. M. (2010). The Internal Audit Handbook. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. This paper on Internal Controls was composed and put together by client Fletcher Simmons to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it as needs be. You can give your paper here.

Enigmatic Quirigua :: essays research papers

One of the last swamp Mayan urban areas to fall, existing admirably into the ninth century, Quirigua, lies today in the still grasses of the Motagua Basin. This 1,200 years of age Mayan city is the focal point of the article. The remnants of Quirigua are found in the midst of a banana ranch built up when the new century rolled over by the United Fruit Company. A portion of the administrators of the United Fruit Co. were keen on paleontology and chose to shield the focal court from being furrowed over. The encompassing littler structures are currently part of the banana manor. Nine solid sandstone landmarks, called stelae, with dated writings of pictographs, characterizing the beginnings and the finish of the Classic Period of Maya Civilization, from around 300 to 900 AD, is the thing that makes Quirigua a fascination in archeologists. The stelae remain the chief composed accounts of this lost development, just as the way in to their exceptionally progressed calendric framework. Other Mayan communities raised stelae a lot before and in more noteworthy abundance, however the stelae at Quirigua are fantastic in their style and strategy. Like most Mayan landmarks, they were raised to remember the progression of time, huge notable occasions, and furthermore filled in as â€Å"billboards promoting the kings‘ standings with the Maya godsâ€Å" (as the writer of the article calls attention to). During its short time of raising stelae, from the mid eighth century until 810 AD, Quirigua was one of just two urban areas to normally erect landmarks denoting th e finish of five-year durations (the quarter-katun, or hotun). The hugely overwhelming material required for the development of the stelae must be shipped from huge separations and there is no proof to show the use of wheels or creatures. These colossal solid models, weighing as much as 65 tons, were guilefully cut without the advantage of metal instruments. Stone etches, driven by different stones or wooden hammers, were the main devices accessible; but the Mayan artists accomplished such a significant level of masterfulness; the carvings, obviously, were done before the stones were lifted up to their vertical positions. This fine assortment of enormous stone figures is organized in a normal example on the fundamental court at Quirigua, the Great Plaza. The city is accepted to have filled in as a significant route station among Copan and Tikal. The best head of Quirigua, during whose rule seven of the nine stelae were raised, was Cauac Sky (or Kawak Sky) organizer of the Sky Dynasty, who governed the city for a long time. Confounding Quirigua :: articles look into papers One of the last swamp Mayan urban communities to crumple, existing admirably into the ninth century, Quirigua, lies today in the still grasses of the Motagua Basin. This 1,200 years of age Mayan city is the focal point of the article. The remains of Quirigua are found in the midst of a banana manor built up when the new century rolled over by the United Fruit Company. A portion of the administrators of the United Fruit Co. were keen on prehistoric studies and chose to shield the focal square from being furrowed over. The encompassing littler structures are presently part of the banana estate. Nine solid sandstone landmarks, called stelae, with dated writings of symbolic representations, characterizing the beginnings and the finish of the Classic Period of Maya Civilization, from around 300 to 900 AD, is the thing that makes Quirigua a fascination in archeologists. The stelae remain the chief composed narratives of this lost human progress, just as the way in to their profoundly progressed calendric framework. Other Mayan places raised stelae a lot before and in more prominent abundance, yet the stelae at Quirigua are unparalleled in their style and procedure. Like most Mayan landmarks, they were raised to honor the progression of time, critical memorable occasions, and furthermore filled in as â€Å"billboards promoting the kings‘ standings with the Maya godsâ€Å" (as the writer of the article calls attention to). During its short time of raising stelae, from the mid eighth century until 810 AD, Quirigua was one of just two urban communities to consistently erect landmarks denoting the finish of five-year durations (the quarter-katun, or hotun). The tremendously substantial material required for the development of the stelae must be shipped from huge separations and there is no proof to show the use of wheels or creatures. These enormous solid figures, weighing as much as 65 tons, were shrewdly cut without the advantage of metal apparatuses. Stone etches, driven by different stones or wooden hammers, were the main apparatuses accessible; but then the Mayan artists accomplished such a significant level of creativity; the carvings, evidently, were done before the stones were lifted up to their vertical positions. This fine assortment of enormous stone models is orchestrated in a standard example on the fundamental court at Quirigua, the Great Plaza. The city is accepted to have filled in as a significant route station among Copan and Tikal. The best chief of Quirigua, during whose rule seven of the nine stelae were raised, was Cauac Sky (or Kawak Sky) organizer of the Sky Dynasty, who managed the city for a long time.

Latin Conjunctions and How to Use Them

Latin Conjunctions and How to Use Them In Latin and in English, conjunctions are words that consolidate different words. The very word combination implies consolidate: conâ with  junct...â (fromâ iungo) join. The most widely recognized conjunctions in English are and, at the same time, or potentially. What's more, is utilized to join any two pieces of a sentence together. However, is an adversative, and complexities parts of a sentence. Or then again might be alluded to as a disjunction and means various things relying upon whether it is being utilized casually or numerically/coherently. Latin Conjunctions Latin has practically identical conjunctions, however it has a greater amount of them. The essential conjunctions in Latin are: et,- que,sed,at/ac,atquenec,neque,velaut. The Latin Conjunction And To decipher the English and you would utilize the Latinâ etâ if you needed the combination to be a different and free word, andâ -queâ if you needed a combination that is added as far as possible of the second conjoined item. In the accompanying, theâ boldedâ forms are the conjunctions. arma virumqueâ canoarms and the man I singvsarmaâ etâ virum canowhich doesnt fit the hexameter meter Vergil required in the Aeneid, yet implies something very similar. There are different words for and likeâ acâ orâ atque. These can be utilized, likeâ et ... et, two by two as correlative conjunctions to mean both ... what's more, The Latin Conjunction But The Latin for yet isâ sedâ orâ at vera dico, sed nequicquam....I talk reality, however in vain.... The Latin Conjunction Or The Latin for the correlative combination either ... or on the other hand isâ vel ... velâ orâ aut ... aut. Autâ orâ velâ can additionally be utilized separately for or. the negative isâ nec ... necâ orâ neque ... nequemeaning neither ... nor. Nec or Neque used independently means (and) not. Vel and autmay be depicted as disjunctions. An aside, the utilization of v to represent or in representative rationale originates from the Latin wordâ vel. Organizing Conjunctions An organizing combination is one that matches a lot of similarly positioned words, expressions, provisos, or sentences. air conditioning - andat - butatque - and, and furthermore, moreoveraut - oret - andnec non - and besidessed - butvel - or Sets of Conjunctions (Correlative) Correlative conjunctions are terms that are sets of equivalent articles: atque ... atque - both ... andaut ... aut - either ... oret ... et - both ... andnec ... et - not just ... however, alsonec ... nec - neither ... nor Subjecting Conjunctions Subjecting conjunctions are words that contrast an autonomous proviso with a needy statement: the reliant condition can't remain all alone, but instead delimits the fundamental piece of a sentence. antequam - beforecum - when, at whatever point, since, becausedum - while, assuming just, inasmuch as, untilsi - ifusque - untilut - while, as Sources Moreland, Floyd L., and Fleischer, Rita M. Latin: An Intensive Course. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.Traupman, John C. The Bantam New College Latin English Dictionary. Third Edition. New York: Bantam Dell, 2007.

Cafs Half Yearly Notes Free Essays

CAFS HALF YEARLY NOTES * Parenting Caring Becoming Parents and Carers: Parenting: The way toward bringing and supporting kids up in a family Caring: The way toward caring for the requirements and prosperity of someone else because of their age, sickness as well as incapacity Biological guardians: The parent who has given the hereditary material, either sperm or ovum, to make a hatchling. Pregnancy Planned Pregnancy: Planned pregnancies include a vital decision on when to parent * There are physical, enthusiastic and monetary effects that outcome structure this choice * An arranged pregnancy is commonly better for both the guardians and youngster Unplanned Pregnancy: * May result from poor information about contraception or the fruitfulness cycle or disappointment with contraception strategies * Become pregnant because of an outcome of disastrous conditions, for example, assault Assisted conceptive advancements: * In-vitro preparation (IVF) and gamete intra-fallopian move (GIFT) are i nstances of helped regenerative innovations. This implies help with terms of ability and innovation is utilized to help origination. We will compose a custom paper test on Cafs Half Yearly Notes or on the other hand any comparable point just for you Request Now Social Parents: Many people have child rearing duties towards a kid with whom they don't share a hereditary relationship. Appropriation: * Adoption is the procedure by which legitimate duty of child rearing of a kid is given to a family or parent other than the natural parent. There are 3 sorts of selection: 1. The youngster is as of now put with forthcoming guardians, for example, a stage parent 2. Neighborhood appropriation abroad selection . Appropriation of a youngster with extraordinary necessities Legal Implications: * Adoption Act 2000 (NSW) Family Law Act 1975 (Commonwealth) * All lawful rights and obligations are moved from the birth guardians to the new parents * The change in child rearing is lasting, so the birth parent loses all rights to the kid. They may keep up the privilege to data and contact * The new parents must be either hitched or in a true relationship; or the progression parent more likely than not lived with the kid for a long time or more Social Implications: * Society’s changing mentalities has brought about less receptions, because of more noteworthy acknowledgment of single parents the utilization of the preventative pill * Decision of telling the youngster that the individual in question is received can be troubling to new parents * The kid must beat sentiments of dismissal by birth guardians * Adoptive kid refrains the organic kid acknowledgment whether the guardians have other kids Fostering: Fostering gives an elective living course of action to kids whose guardians are incidentally incapable to think about them in their family * The parental figures are volunteers who are paid a fortnightly remittance to assist them with addressing the requirements of the kid * Foster consideration can go from a couple of days to a couple of years and incorporates: * Temporary consideration, * Respite care * Pre-supportive child care * Long term care * A kid must be placed into child care if: * They are viewed as in dan ger of mischief Their fundamental physical and passionate needs are not being met * There might be danger of misuse or introduction to aggressive behavior at home Legal Implications: * Foster consideration is managed by enactment, for example, Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) * Any individual cultivating kids who isn't identified with them must have a permit to encourage. In NSW a permit is given by the Department of Community Services about different child rearing issues * The cultivate carer settle on clinical choices or take lawful procedures for the benefit of the youngster Social Implications: Carers must empower contact with the youthful people birth family and acknowledge that the individual will doubtlessly come back to their introduction to the world family * 30% of encourage kids have been manhandled in their natural family * Problems between organic family and the encourage kid may drive the temporary family to make a controlling request Str ide Parenting: * When a man or lady wedded or structures a true connection with an accomplice, who has a kid or kids from past connections, they become a stage parent * New relatives should be acknowledged, jobs and duties must be shared Legal Implications: A stage parent has no legitimate duty towards the kid * A stage parent who has gone about as parent to a kid for quite a while, and who is currently being separated from the natural parent, may have appearance rights if judge concludes that is best for the child’s interests * If a kid is embraced by a stage parent, rights and legacy from natural guardians are lost Social Implications: Community recognition regularly holds that an unblemished unique family unit is better than any assortment of mixed family; a stepfamily might be viewed as ‘deficient’ type of a family unit * Conflict can happen between the kid and step parent, essential connections and obligations become a haze * Partners may have various dreams of family life and child rearing styles that may should be talked about * Poor associations with step guardians are perceived as a critical factor in making youngsters venture out from home, with uncertain family issues Surrogacy: * A course of action made between a couple who can't have an infant and a lady who gets pregnant for the couples sake. The youngster is given to the couple after conveyance * A lady may require a substitute If she is: * Infertile * Suffers from a genuine ailment * Uncontrollable diabetes * Cardiomyopathy * Moderate renal disappointment Surrogacy regularly implies IVF treatment as the proxy mother may utilize benefactor ova or sperm or the accomplices own egg sperm * The barren couple must apply to embrace the kid to be recorded on the birth declaration as the child’s lawful guardians * The court must get assent from the substitute mother to surrender parental rights Legal Implications: * Surrogacy is legitimately a ‘grey’ zone in NSW, it is neither precluded or supported * Very explicit rules should be set up for the two gatherings dependent on a respect understanding that isn't lawfully restricting * Payment can't be made Social Implications: * The substitute mother may have a continuous connection to the child in the wake of conceiving an offspring * If the proxy mother backpedals on the understanding, there might be extraordinary frustration between the gatherings * Community acknowledged might be blended, as surrogacy isn’t a generally acknowledged practice * Surrogacy is exorbitant and may influence the guardians financially * Social guardians may adjust their perspective and leave the infant with the substitute mother who might not have the sufficient assets or family support Carer Relationships: Carers are individuals who care for the necessities and prosperity of someone else because of their age, sickness or potentially handicap. Carers might be paid or unpaid. Numerous conditions might be arranged and lead to an individual requiring care, these included: * An arranged pregnancy * Adoption or cultivating * Grand child rearing * Looking after a matured parent Some conditions might be spontaneous and are sudden and in this way bear the cost of less arrangements: * An impromptu pregnancy * Grand child rearing * Health issues * Accident * Birth variations from the norm When the mindful job has been arranged, dynamic will undoubtedly be troublesome particularly during beginning stages * Both arranged and impromptu consideration may require the essential carer to reallocate family jobs Voluntary Carers: * Voluntary carers are unpaid, they are consistently relatives (guardians, accomplices, kin, companions or youngsters) * Carers may attempt the thinking about a couple of hours a week or throughout the day regular * Some carers are qualified for government benefits * Voluntary carers are frequently ladies, with 71% of essential carers 54% of all carers in Australia being ladies Paid Carers: Paid carers embrace the job of mindful as a type of business and in this way get monetary installment * Types of paid carers can include: * Family day carer * Nanny * Doctor * Foster carer * Teacher * Nurse * Palliative carer Managing Parenting and Caring Responsibilities: * With successful administration procedures, an individual is bound to have the option to accomplish objectives * Physical, social, enthusiastic and financial changes should happen during arrangements for turning into a parent or carer Physical arrangements: Organic Parenting: * Optimize physical wellbeing before origination and during pregnancy * Maintain a solid, adjusted eating routine and create consciousness of uncommon needs during pregnancy * No utilization of liquor or tobacco and different medications * Participate in customary exercise * Attend normal fatherly courses to find out about physical and enthusiastic needs during pregnancy and birth * Attend ordinary meetings with a general expert to screen the baby’s development and improvement and embrace ultra sounds and different tests Social Parenting: The physical arrangements for social child rearing are frequently like the initial 4 purposes of natural child rearing Caring: * Participate in standard exercise to keep up ideal physical passionate wellbeing * Maintain a solid, adjusted eating regimen to guarantee physical requirements are met as mindful can put a strain on prosperity * Practice safe lifting abilities to help with the portability needs of the ward * Practi ce how to give an infusion or utilize a breathing device * Investigate and introduce physical guides in the home, for example, railings and inclines Social arrangements: Natural Parenting: * Attend pre-birth classes to meet others in a similar circumstance these kinships may proceed after conveyance * Investigate youngster cordial social exercises in the neighborhood Locate child rearing gatherings in the network * Organize infant extra time with accomplice Social Parenting: * Develop associations with different guardians, for example, through child’s sport and recreational exercises * Locate child rearing gatherings in the nearby network * Arrange kid available time with accomplice to create and keep up own relationship Caring: * Enlist the help of relatives Identify essential care groups, for example,

Implantable Vision Chips Essay - 1100 Words

Implantable Neuromorphic Vision Chips (Essay Sample) Content: Implantable Neuromorphic Vision ChipsNameInstitution Implantable Neuromorphic Vision ChipsImplantable electronics are used in contemporary times to improve on cardiac, cochlear and retinal prosthesis systems. Retinal prosthesis is replaces retinal function through the implants of analogue circuits which are integrated circuits. Implantable Neuromorphic Vision Chips perform four cell functions: photoreceptor, horizontal, bipolar and ganglion cells. Horizontal cells simulation network with the other cells to provide noise immunity and high dynamic range of retinal vertebrae. They also form layers that transverse primary signals that enter the eye. The signal then enters the photoreceptor cells where it is transmitted to the bipolar cells. Bipolar cells are based in pairs and are situated beneath the retina. The latter provides a boundary between light and dark. The ganglion cells are in two groups; on-center and off-center. Bipolar terminals transmit synapses through e xcitatory synapses to the ganglion cells. Stimulus is generated from the ganglion cells to the optic nerve of the visual cortex (Chiang Wu, 2004). Iiso and Ismt currents are produced by photoreceptor and horizontal cells respectively to the bipolar cells. Bipolar cells operate with two positive current edges. The current is then converted to analogue voltage. The bipolar cells regulate the voltage of the extracted current to avoid ambiguity in the presence of noise or any other disturbances. The out put signal from the bipolar cells then enters the ganglion which generates the optical nerve impedance. Transistors exist in the vision chips to produce the correct current that is needed by the patient. Moreover, the biphasic pulses in the ganglion cells prevent accumulation of ion-charge in the tissues. The pulse duration is 300 microseconds and its frequency is 20 hz in the implantable Neuromorphic vision chips (Chiang Wu, 2004). Thus from the above, the retinal cells function has b een improved through simulation. The function of the retina is enhanced through simulation by the Neuromorphic vision chips. The quality of the article is relevant as it explains how a Neuromorphic vision chip enhances retinal vision. The article describes in detail the cell functions of photoreceptor, horizontal, bipolar and ganglion cells. Further, it elaborates on how the implants improve the cell functions through simulation. The impulses flow from one cell to another is described in the article. The diagram enables the reader to track the signals from the time they enter the retina to the time that they reach the transistors to be discharged to the visual cortex. However, the article is biased towards describing the signal interface of the ganglion cells than that of the other cells. It gives spatial information on what happens to the current or signal in the photoreceptors and the ganglion cells. There is also less information of the current in the biphasic stage. Despite this limitation of t...

Where the Grass Is Greener - Literature Essay Samples

Many authors have identified the self-absorbed behavior of Emma Bovary as the key character quality that leads to her downfall, and modern analyses point to lack of social and educational opportunities as the root cause of the decline and death of the eponymous hero of Madame Bovary. However, Gustave Flaubert’s incisive and understated narrative provides a simpler and more fundamental explanation for the character’s increasing disassociation from reality and for the bad decisions she makes as a result. This essay will show that Emma Bovary suffers not from self-absorption but from a nagging certainty that other people’s lives are better than her own and that they are experiencing happiness that is denied to her. It is this certainty, coupled with a sense of unfairness, that drives every single bad decision Emma makes throughout the book. To Emma, the proverbial grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. No matter where she goes or what her life circumstances are, she is convinced that other people have it better. During her years in the convent school, she was allowed to amuse herself by reading French romance novels. These were not the highly sexualized books of today but adventure stories similar to The Three Musketeers. Such novels were plot-driven in a swashbuckling way. Every chapter contained cliffhanger drama and excitement. Compared to the staid, quotidian lifestyle in a convent school—and Emma at first knows no other since her father elected to keep her in the convent after her mother’s death—life outside the convent seems full of potential and excitement, especially when she receives letters from her friends who have moved back home or who have married. Compared to her life, theirs seem happy and exciting. So when her father calls her back home to live on the farm, Emma fee ls at first as though her life is about to begin. Once she arrives, her excitement fades into boredom and dissatisfaction as soon as the novelty wears off, and she is left with the question: â€Å"is this all there is?† The pattern repeats with her marriage to Charles Bovary and again when she gives birth to her daughter. But instead of finding satisfaction in her everyday life with brief periods of excitement for occasional treats, Emma responds to dissatisfaction by finding a new fence, deciding the grass is greener on the other side of it, and making a leap without regard for the consequences to herself or others. If for some reason things don’t go the way she plans, and when she experiences the very predictable consequences of her actions, she melts down in whatever fashion she believes is consistent with the people she identifies with—again without regard for the effect she is having on other people. Early in her marriage, Emma is dissatisfied as a rural health officer’s wife but she does not feel the need to imitate the other wives in the village. Whereas other women of the bourgeois class in that era typically raised chickens, took in laundry, rented out extra rooms, or cared for other people’s children to earn extra money, Emma sits idle and reads. She subscribes to a circulating library and continues to indulge not just in romance novels but in the notion that they somehow represent objective reality. To Emma, the fictional heroes and heroines and the worlds they inhabit are real, and their lives are far more exciting than hers. She does what she can to make her surroundings more beautiful and to imitate what she interprets as the customs of an upper-class woman. These include keeping a housemaid (despite being young, healthy, and without children), keeping her nails long and bleached, and spending more than is strictly necessary on furniture and household decor ations. Emma’s mother-in-law takes exception to what she interprets as spendthrift behavior. Her complaints, though minor, have a basis in fact. Yet they also foreshadow the years of compulsive spending that, abetted by the merchant Lheureux, eventually leads to her and Charles losing everything. A significant plot turn occurs when Emma and Charles are invited to a ball at the home of the wealthy d’Andervilliers family. This is an annual fall event before the wealthiest people in the area migrate away from their country estates and go to Paris or some other more comfortable location for the winter. The invitation is reciprocity for a gift of cherry tree cuttings from Charles: the Marquis d’Andervilliers, who is in the area with a member of his staff who needs medical attention, praises the cherry trees growing on the property Charles and Emma inherited from Charles’s first wife. Charles graciously sends fresh cuttings to replace the winter-killed trees on the d’Andervilliers property. To acknowledge the gift, the d’Andervilliers family sends Charles and Emma an invitation to their annual ball. The Marquis notes that since Emma does not curtsey like a peasant and is quite pretty, the young couple will not be noticeably out of place while enjo ying a once-in-a-lifetime event they will be able to tell their grandchildren about later. The couple buys new clothing for the event. But whereas Charles simply enjoys the novelty and has a reasonably good time, Emma comes to the conclusion that she has somehow been accepted into the upper class. She hasn’t. While at the d’Andervilliers ball, Emma sees and experiences things she’s only read about in books. She tastes pineapple for the first time, sees somebody pass a note to someone else, listens to people talk about Italy, and eats a formal meal. Yet she misinterprets much of what she is experiencing, especially when she sees something that appears to contradict what she’s read. When this happens, Emma decides that the people around her simply don’t know the customs of their own class as well as she does. She takes her theoretical knowledge as evidence that she has at least as much right to be part of the clique as the people who actually occupy it. At the dinner table, Emma is shocked to see that many of the women do not put their gloves in their wine glasses. What she does not realize is that there is a system of â€Å"silent service† communication so that diners at a formal event can communicate with the wait staff without interrupting the flow of conversation at the table. (Some of these signals still exist but they are not understood by wait staff.) Gloves in the wine glass, in Emma’s era, were a signal to not serve alcohol to that particular diner, who was generally a woman who was either pregnant or trying to get that way. The signal was in the same category as laying one’s knife at a forty-five degree angle, with the fork crossed over it with the tines down in order to signal the waiter to remove the plate. Having learned from her romance novels what the mannered elite did but not why they did it, Emma jumps to the conclusion that the women at the table who simply want a glass of wine with their meal are being rude. Emma is also disappointed at the appearance of her fellow diners. She expects to be surrounded by young and beautiful people, but since she is only a few years into her majority and the table contains all the upper-class people in the area, most of the women at the table are older than she. Many are middle-aged or elderly, and therefore very ordinary-looking to Emma’s eye. Furthermore, they are wearing styles from the previous season or even earlier. Emma herself has paid handsomely for a new gown cut in the latest fashion solely for the occasion, so she comes to the conclusion that her taste is better than that of the women around her. In reality, the d’Andervilliers ball is an annual event: an autumn farewell for local wealthy people and members of the nobility whose families have known each other for generations. Most of the guests are traveling to their winter homes in Paris where the major fashion houses are, where the real social season is about to start, and wher e their new clothing awaits them. They therefore select gowns from their existing wardrobes. The fact that Emma went to the expense of ordering a new ball gown and dresses just for one party is not evidence of her superior taste: it’s evidence that she didn’t already own appropriate clothing. She’d have displayed more savoir-faire by buying lightly used clothing in Rouen and having it altered: at least the clothing would have been from the right season and not obviously new. The most potentially embarrassing gaffe, for Emma, is when she waltzes with the Viscount. The handsome, wealthy bachelor is the highest ranked man present and has danced with Emma several times. In Emma’s novels, dancing with the same woman two or even three times is evidence of romantic interest. Yet when she manages to tangle the skirt of her dress up in his legs and briefly lays her head on his chest, he does not respond to the come-on. Instead of seducing her, he steers her toward a bench and dances with someone else, unaware that Emma has just identified him as her new romantic and sexual ideal. She invents all kinds of stories about how the cigar case with his coat of arms on it must have been a gift from a mistress. The Viscount—or at least, the impression Emma has of him at the ball—is the kind of man with whom Emma decides she could really fall in love. From that point forward she has a new romantic ideal, a secret fantasy with whom her husband Charles c annot possibly compete. She is not at all embarrassed by the waltzing fiasco; it is a mark of her lack of sophistication that it doesn’t occur to her that she should be. To Emma, at the ball it appears as though everything in her romance novels is coming to life. She feels as though she is finally starting to live because she’s personally experiencing the happiness and excitement she’s read about. She looks at the peasants and staff who peek through the window and thinks to herself that although she was born among them, she has finally found the place where she truly belongs. This extreme joy and satisfaction is an emotional high point for her. But she fails to recognize that it’s a high point for the other people at the ball as well. Even among the wealthy elite, when the party’s over, it’s time to go home. She doesn’t understand that, even for the rich, life has to go back to normal. Emma expects—because of what she’s read—that this group of people move from one exciting experience to the next. Thus, the next morning when people are offered a light brunch before leaving, Emma is surpris ed to notice that the hosts are not serving Champagne wine with the meal. In Emma’s mind she has been accepted, permanently, as a member of the social elite. Therefore, when she returns to her country home with its magnificent cherry trees, she compares it with the d’Andervilliers mansion and finds it wanting. In fact, everything, including Charles, is suddenly inadequate. She fires the elderly maid Nastasie, who loyally served Charles’s first wife and who kept house for Charles after the lady died, because Nastasie does not display the formal, subservient behavior Emma believes she saw at the ball. Yet in the bourgeois class of the time, women Emma’s age seldom employed servants at all unless they were sickly or busy with children or a family business. Furthermore, such servants as people had were generally poorer relatives or family friends helping out in exchange for food, lodging, and a bit of money. When Nastasie does not have dinner ready on her arrival, Emma rebukes her. When she talks back to Emma as though she were spea king to a social equal which she is, Emma throws a tantrum and fires Nastasie on the spot. To replace her, Emma hires a young girl who can be taught to always say â€Å"madame†, to bring Emma a glass of water on a tray instead of just handing it to her, and to do the housework and cooking while Emma enjoys uninterrupted leisure time. This turns out to be a financially stupid idea: the new maid steals from her. After the ball, Emma reminisces about it, talks constantly about it, and apes some of the external habits and expectations of people she saw there, alienating the local women in the process. She studies Italian, reads different magazines, and buys an expensive writing-desk. But instead of writing a note of thanks to the hostess, and instead of sending letters around to some of the other guests to find out how to return the Viscount’s lost cigar case—activities that would have been normal and natural in the d’Andervilliers’ social circle—she decides she has nobody to write to. This prevents her from ever forming the social attachments she will need in order to participate in her new group. Aside from her beauty and manners, Emma has very little to offer the upper-class families with whom she now seeks to socialize. She is not in a position to, say, reciprocate the d’Andervilliers invitation by hosting a ball and inviting the people who entertained her. Nor can she provide artistic or intellectual stimulation: she has not traveled abroad, she can play the piano but has no great skill as a musician, she is not well educated, nor does she display the sort of conversational skill that is valuable to a hostess. In fact, the text does not show her engaging anyone in conversation. Thus, Emma develops no social or emotional connection with her hosts or with any of the other guests. In fact she’s a minor nuisance. Her fainting spell causes her host to order a window broken so that she can get air, and she makes a joke of herself on the dance floor. This, plus her lack of polite follow-up correspondence with the d’Andervilliers family, guarantees that there is no reason to invite her and Charles back. Unlike a true social climber such as Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, who never went to a party without trying to make friends with as many of the other attendees as possible, Emma does not solidify her new social contacts. So when she is not invited back the next year, it comes as no surprise to the reader but it is a horrible shock to Emma, who finds a large metaphorical fence between herself and the green pasture where she thinks she belongs. She therefore does what any romantic heroine would do: she collapses and refuses to tell anybody what’s wrong. Emma starts to snap out of her expectation-induced depression when Charles sells his profitable practice in Tostes and buys one in a different town called Yonville. It is not the change of scenery that intrigues her: it is a young clerk named Là ©on. He introduces her to poetry, which allows for the expression of far more sublime extremes of human experience compared to Emma’s romances. Emma decides that she has a â€Å"noble soul† and is therefore a more sensitive and refined creature than the others around her. So she begins to do things that she believes are appropriate to a noble, poetic soul: she is devastated at having given birth to a girl instead of a boy through whom she could live vicariously, and hands the baby off to a wet-nurse at the first opportunity. She also cultivates a platonic but intense emotional attachment to Là ©on that includes a gift of an expensive feather-bed. She notices he is in love with her, or at least attracted to her, and they carry on what in modern times would be called an â€Å"emotional affair†. Fantasizing about life on the other side of the fence, Emma compares her husband to the evanescent image of the waltzing Viscount, the young and intelligent Là ©on, and the exaggerated romantic ideals she reads about in her poetry. Charles now appears to Emma to be mediocre, somewhat disgusting, and thoroughly inadequate. She starts to do small things to improve him: insisting he wear gloves, and being fastidious about his appearance. Charles, naively, believes Emma is doing these things out of love for him. In reality she becomes increasingly frustrated. She assuages her feelings by behaving like any virtuous heroine of a sonnet cycle: she and Là ©on exchange long, lingering glances and subtle hints. She gives him a lavish gift in the form of a feather-bed, alternately encouraging and discouraging him. But instead of responding like a poetic suitor and pursuing her for years or risking his life for her Her o-and-Leander style, Là ©on leaves town. Shocked, Emma collapses again. This emotional overreaction, which is now becoming Emma’s standard response to disappointment, is consistent with what Tennyson’s Lady of Shallot or any other tragic poetic heroine might do. Emma’s next peek at the other side of a fence comes when the wealthy Rodolphe Boulanger decides to introduce her to horseback riding and adultery. He accomplishes the latter with a series of dramatic sighs, references to his unhappiness, and a conveniently placed shelter when the two of them are caught out in the rain. The initial seduction having been accomplished, Emma embraces her new identity as adulteress and proceeds to act out every possible dramatic excess. She does everything she believes an adulterous woman should do: she dresses outrageously in a man’s vest, she smokes cigars in public, and her speech and her facial expressions become more direct in a sexual way. She does not avoid speculation or discovery; in fact, she invites it because she wants the drama. She takes risks, exchanging love letters with Rodolphe and walking across the countryside to surprise him in the morning. She begins to spend more than she should on cosmetics, lemons to bleach her nails , and gifts for men that never seem to be worn or used by Charles. Gradually she ruins her reputation in Yonville: people are convinced she is having an affair with some wealthy man, but they do not know with whom. She even sneaks Rodolphe into her home while Charles is present, asking Rodolphe if he has a pistol to â€Å"protect† her against her husband. Rodolphe, meanwhile, has no reason to hate Charles much less to shoot him, and he finds Emma’s suggestion ridiculous. Sensibly, he conducts his affair with Emma much the way he has done with his other flings. He does not buy Emma lavish gifts lest they give away evidence. But he is more than willing to accept the cigar case, the silver-handled cane, and the other indulgences Emma buys for him. In Emma’s mind, she is reenacting her fantasy story about the Viscount receiving gifts from his wealthy and indulgent mistress. It is the gifts for Rodolphe, together with other expenses for clothing and perfumes she cannot afford, that begins to drive Emma into debt. She buys on credit from the merchant Lheureux, who has a history of encouraging people to accumulate debt only to sell of the notes at a profit and force a bankruptcy. The affair continues for four years, during which time Emma becomes bored. She drives up the excitement level in several ways such as by sneaking Rodolphe into the house at night while Charles is present—she asks Rodolphe if he has a pistol to protect her from Charles’s wrath if they are caught, which is something Rodolphe finds ridiculous—but ultimately she discovers that adultery can be just as dull and boring as marriage. So she casts about for another, greener pasture and she finds it: she wants to be married, just not to Charles. Accordingly, she and Rodolphe plan to elope and live happily in an obscure village somewhere as husband and wife. Rodolphe thin ks it’s a fantasy, but Emma makes secret preparations. She buys traveling trunks and a new wardrobe through Lheureux, all on credit. On the day of the scheduled departure, Rodolphe comes to his senses and leaves town, sending Emma a farewell note in a basket of apricots. Emma—predictably at this point—collapses again. As usual, Emma does not recover until she finds a new way to self-identify. She turns to religion, spends a small fortune on a prie-dieu, and fancies herself the quintessential repentant Mary Magdalene. She enjoys putting on a pious act, but eventually she gets less attention from the village priest and the other religious women. She doesn’t experience the great emotional passion the famous saints and sinners did, she experiences no great religious ecstasy, and quiet contemplation and meditation on the divine turns out to be a bore when nobody’s watching. So her familiar â€Å"is-this-all-there-is† sensation sets in again. Charles takes her to Rouen to consult with one of his old mentors, and encounters not just his frenemy Homais but also Là ©on. On Homais’s advice, Charles buys opera tickets. This is another key turning-point that is often overlooked by critics. Yet it is as vital to Emma’s character development as the d’Andervilliers ball . Opera is an art form that capitalizes on overblown, dramatic emotion expressed through music. Every aspect of a character’s feelings, thoughts, and living spiritual essence is condensed into song and channeled—with suitable orchestral backing—through the one perfect expressive medium in the world. This medium of course is the human voice. Even heavy metal doesn’t bring as much drama (although the costumes tend to be similar and it’s also just as hard to understand the lyrics). Emotional extremes don’t get any bigger than they do on the operatic stage. So when Emma is exposed to opera, it affects her even though she tries to hide it. It doesn’t help that the author Flaubert chooses to send Emma to Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which is one of the most overblown, extravagant Gothic tragedies ever to hit the stage. Lucia di Lammermoor is based on The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott, one of the romance writers whose work Emma devoured in her youth. In the story, the heroine Lucy is deceived and trapped into a loveless marriage. She goes insane, murders her unwanted bridegroom, and then commits suicide. The romantic lead role is being sung by the famous tenor, Lagardy, and Emma falls completely into the production. Like many women in the audience, she briefly identifies as Lucy. She wondered why she didn’t do as Lucy did, and physically resist to the point of having to be carried down the aisle. She now reflects that she was just as unhappy and unwilling to marry Charles—a fact not supported by the early part of the text. She adopts the fictional Lucy, complete with the dramatic hyperbole, as her romantic ideal. Not only should she be as full of emotional excess as an operatic heroine, but if things get bad, perhaps instead of fainting or collapsing, she should do as Lucy di d instead. So now she regards herself not as a member of the nobility born by accident into the wrong class, not as a â€Å"noble soul† who feels emotion more keenly and is therefore above the mundane conventions that govern ordinary mortals, and not as a repentant religious devotee. She’s an over-the-top dramatic diva. So she does what an operatic heroine with a bent for adultery could be expected to do: in the cab on the way home, when her old fondness for Là ©on returns, she acts on it. Emma’s hedonic adaptation, and her new self-identification as a tragic heroine, requires that she see Là ©on as much as possible. She capitalizes on the death of Charles’s father to spend time in Rouen pretending to settle the estate, then she pretends to take piano lessons and spends even more ridiculous sums of money traveling to Rouen and renting a room for their weekly trysts. When the bills come due she combines them and takes out further loans from Lheureux at an exorbitant rate of interest, and she tries to sell off the little house with the cherry trees in order to pay the bills but is cheated out of the money by Lheureux and his cronies. She insists on entertaining her lover lavishly, as she did Rodolphe, but she is also sexually aggressive and proactive. Her tastes in reading change again: she reads violent pornography with stories of Rabelaisian orgies, and she begins to believe as though she thinks such behavior ought to be normal. Her excesses begin to fri ghten Là ©on, who tries to end the affair when Emma starts showing up at his office. The first time it’s charming; after that, it becomes creepy. Until one of his colleagues writes to his mother, saying your son is ruining himself with a married woman, the young man does not break off the affair. When the storm cloud of debt finally breaks over the Bovary household, Emma tries to get money from many sources. Her maid suggests that she negotiate with a local wealthy man who admires her, however when he proposes an affair Emma draws herself up like an offended opera heroine and flees, only to go to Rodolphe with the exact same proposition, which Rodolphe refuses. With Charles away, she submits to the indignity of having the house gone through and itemized, right down to the contents of the secret drawer in her desk with its hidden cache of love letters. Presently Emma begins to do what Lucy did in the opera: she starts to go insane. First she proposes that Là ©on steal the money from his employer, and when Là ©on fobs her off she walks home hallucinating. She imagines scenes from her past, including the waltzing Viscount who fails to materialize and save her from the predictable consequences of her decisions. At this point, there is nowhere for Emma to turn and nobody who can help her. Indeed, the consequences of her bad decisions are closing in on her and there’s only one more pasture left to flee to where the grass might be greener. Emma therefore does not melt down as she has done in the past. Instead, she seeks â€Å"the other side† with a lethal dose of arsenic. Lurching from one disappointment to the next, Emma never succeeds in enjoying happiness or pleasure for more than a few hours at a time. Yet when each new circumstance fails to bring a permanent improvement to her mood, instead of understanding that pleasure and excitement are fleeting and transitory by nature, Emma continues to seek out what appear to be more promising circumstances based on her superficial observations. This she does without regard to her actions’ effect on other people. When the reality fails to measure up to her grotesquely inflated expectations, she responds with the kind of tantrum consistent with her chosen identity. Self-absorbed she may be, yet self-absorption is only a symptom of Emma’s deeper problem, which is her inability to understand that life is short, pleasure is fleeting, and envy of others is ultimately pointless because there is no such thing as a life without pain, frustration, or boredom. References Dumas, Alexandre (Pà ¨re). The Three Musketeers. Le Sià ¨cle, March-July 1844. Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. La Revue de Paris, October-December 1856. Scott, Sir Walter. The Bride of Lammermoor. 1819. (Donizetti’s opera came out in 1835). Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. 1847-1848.

Biography of Thomas Edison, American Inventor

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847–October 18, 1931) was an American inventor who transformed the world with inventions including the lightbulb and the phonograph. He was considered the face of technology and progress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fast Facts: Thomas Edison Known For: Inventor of groundbreaking technology, including the lightbulb and the phonograph Born: February 11, 1847 in Milan, OhioParents: Sam Edison Jr. and Nancy Elliott EdisonDied: October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New JerseyEducation: Three months of formal education, homeschooled until age 12Published Works: Quadruplex telegraph, phonograph, unbreakable cylinder record called the Blue Ambersol, electric pen, a version of the incandescent lightbulb and an integrated system to run it, motion picture camera called a kinetographSpouse(s): Mary Stilwell, Mina MillerChildren: Marion Estelle, Thomas Jr., William Leslie by Mary Stilwell; and Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore Miller by Mina Miller Early Life Thomas Alva Edison was born to Sam and Nancy on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, the son of a Canadian refugee and his schoolteacher wife. Edisons mother Nancy Elliott was originally from New York until her family moved to Vienna, Canada, where she met Sam Edison, Jr., whom she later married. Sam was the descendant of British loyalists who fled to Canada at the end of the American Revolution, but when he became involved in an unsuccessful revolt in Ontario in the 1830s he was forced to flee to the United States. They made their home in Ohio in 1839. The family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854, where Sam worked in the lumber business. Education and First Job Known as Al in his youth, Edison was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, and all of them were in their teens when Edison was born. Edison tended to be in poor health when he was young and was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison addled, or slow, his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint. At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and chemical experiments. In 1859 at the age of 12, Edison took a job selling newspapers and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit. He started two businesses in Port Huron, a newsstand and a fresh produce stand, and finagled free or very low-cost trade and transport in the train. In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board. Loss of Hearing Around the age of 12, Edison lost almost all of his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused this. Some attribute it to the aftereffects of scarlet fever, which he had as a child. Others blame it on a train conductor boxing his ears after Edison caused a fire in the baggage car, an incident Edison claimed never happened. Edison himself blamed it on an incident in which he was grabbed by his ears and lifted to a train. He did not let his disability discourage him, however, and often treated it as an asset since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research. Undoubtedly, though, his deafness made him more solitary and shy in dealing with others. Telegraph Operator In 1862, Edison rescued a 3-year-old from a track where a boxcar was about to roll into him. The grateful father, J.U. MacKenzie, taught Edison railroad telegraphy as a reward. That winter, he took a job as a telegraph operator in Port Huron. In the meantime, he continued his scientific experiments on the side. Between 1863 and 1867, Edison migrated from city to city in the United States, taking available telegraph jobs. Love of Invention In 1868, Edison moved to Boston where he worked in the Western Union office and worked even more on inventing things. In January 1869 Edison resigned from his job, intending to devote himself full time to inventing things. His first invention to receive a patent was the electric vote recorder, in June 1869. Daunted by politicians reluctance to use the machine, he decided that in the future he would not waste time inventing things that no one wanted. Edison moved to New York City in the middle of 1869. A friend, Franklin L. Pope, allowed Edison to sleep in a room where he worked, Samuel Laws Gold Indicator Company. When Edison managed to fix a broken machine there, he was hired to maintain and improve the printer machines. During the next period of his life, Edison became involved in multiple projects and partnerships dealing with the telegraph. In October 1869, Edison joined with Franklin L. Pope and James Ashley to form the organization Pope, Edison and Co. They advertised themselves as electrical engineers and constructors of electrical devices. Edison received several patents for improvements to the telegraph. The partnership merged with the Gold and Stock Telegraph Co. in 1870. American Telegraph Works Edison also established the Newark Telegraph Works in Newark, New Jersey, with William Unger to manufacture stock printers. He formed the American Telegraph Works to work on developing an automatic telegraph later in the year. In 1874 he began to work on a multiplex telegraphic system for Western Union, ultimately developing a quadruplex telegraph, which could send two messages simultaneously in both directions. When Edison sold his patent rights to the quadruplex to the rival Atlantic Pacific Telegraph Co., a series of court battles followed—which Western Union won. Besides other telegraph inventions, he also developed an electric pen in 1875. Marriage and Family His personal life during this period also brought much change. Edisons mother died in 1871, and he married his former employee Mary Stilwell on Christmas Day that same year. While Edison loved his wife, their relationship was fraught with difficulties, primarily his preoccupation with work and her constant illnesses. Edison would often sleep in the lab and spent much of his time with his male colleagues. Nevertheless, their first child Marion was born in February 1873, followed by a son, Thomas, Jr., in January 1876. Edison nicknamed the two Dot and Dash, referring to telegraphic terms. A third child, William Leslie, was born in October 1878. Mary died in 1884, perhaps of cancer or the morphine prescribed to her to treat it. Edison married again: his second wife was Mina Miller, the daughter of Ohio industrialist Lewis Miller, who founded the Chautauqua Foundation. They married on February 24, 1886, and had three children, Madeleine (born 1888), Charles (1890), and Theodore Miller Edison (1898). Menlo Park Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876. This site later become known as an invention factory, since they worked on several different inventions at any given time there. Edison would conduct numerous experiments to find answers to problems. He said, I never quit until I get what Im after. Negative results are just what Im after. They are just as valuable to me as positive results. Edison liked to work long hours and expected much from his employees. In 1879, after considerable experimentation and based on 70 years work of several other inventors, Edison invented a carbon filament that would burn for 40 hours—the first practical incandescent lightbulb. While Edison had neglected further work on the phonograph, others had moved forward to improve it. In particular, Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter developed an improved machine that used a wax cylinder and a floating stylus, which they called a graphophone. They sent representatives to Edison to discuss a possible partnership on the machine, but Edison refused to collaborate with them, feeling that the phonograph was his invention alone. With this competition, Edison was stirred into action and resumed his work on the phonograph in 1887. Edison eventually adopted methods similar to Bell and Tainters in his phonograph. Phonograph Companies The phonograph was initially marketed as a business dictation machine. Entrepreneur Jesse H. Lippincott acquired control of most of the phonograph companies, including Edisons, and set up the North American Phonograph Co. in 1888. The business did not prove profitable, and when Lippincott fell ill, Edison took over the management. In 1894, the North American Phonograph Co. went into bankruptcy, a move which allowed Edison to buy back the rights to his invention. In 1896, Edison started the National Phonograph Co. with the intent of making phonographs for home amusement. Over the years, Edison made improvements to the phonograph and to the cylinders which were played on them, the early ones being made of wax. Edison introduced an unbreakable cylinder record, named the Blue Amberol, at roughly the same time he entered the disc phonograph market in 1912. The introduction of an Edison disc was in reaction to the overwhelming popularity of discs on the market in contrast to cylinders. Touted as being superior to the competitions records, the Edison discs were designed to be played only on Edison phonographs and were cut laterally as opposed to vertically. The success of the Edison phonograph business, though, was always hampered by the companys reputation of choosing lower-quality recording acts. In the 1920s, competition from radio caused the business to sour, and the Edison disc business ceased production in 1929. Ore-Milling and Cement Another Edison interest was an ore milling process that would extract various metals from ore. In 1881, he formed the Edison Ore-Milling Co., but the venture proved fruitless as there was no market for it. He returned to the project in 1887, thinking that his process could help the mostly depleted Eastern mines compete with the Western ones. In 1889, the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works was formed, and Edison became absorbed by its operations and began to spend much time away from home at the mines in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. Although he invested much money and time into this project, it proved unsuccessful when the market went down, and additional sources of ore in the Midwest were found. Edison also became involved in promoting the use of cement and formed the Edison Portland Cement Co. in 1899. He tried to promote the widespread use of cement for the construction of low-cost homes and envisioned alternative uses for concrete in the manufacture of phonographs, furniture, refrigerators, and pianos. Unfortunately, Edison was ahead of his time with these ideas, as the widespread use of concrete proved economically unfeasible at that time. Motion Pictures In 1888, Edison met Eadweard Muybridge at West Orange and viewed Muybridges Zoopraxiscope. This machine used a circular disc with still photographs of the successive phases of movement around the circumference to recreate the illusion of movement. Edison declined to work with Muybridge on the device and decided to work on his motion picture camera at his laboratory. As Edison put it in a caveat written the same year, I am experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear. The task of inventing the machine fell to Edisons associate William K. L. Dickson. Dickson initially experimented with a cylinder-based device for recording images, before turning to a celluloid strip. In October 1889, Dickson greeted Edisons return from Paris with a new device that projected pictures and contained sound. After more work, patent applications were made in 1891 for a motion picture camera, called a Kinetograph, and a Kinetoscope, a motion picture peephole viewer. Kinetoscope parlors opened in New York and soon spread to other major cities during 1894. In 1893, a motion picture studio, later dubbed the Black Maria (the slang name for a police paddy wagon which the studio resembled), was opened at the West Orange complex. Short films were produced using a variety of acts of the day. Edison was reluctant to develop a motion picture projector, feeling that more profit was to be made with the peephole viewers. When Dickson assisted competitors on developing another peephole motion picture device and the eidoscope projection system, later to develop into the Mutoscope, he was fired. Dickson went on to form the American Mutoscope Co. along with Harry Marvin, Herman Casler, and Elias Koopman. Edison subsequently adopted a projector developed by Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins and renamed it the Vitascope and marketed it under his name. The Vitascope premiered on April 23, 1896, to great acclaim. Patent Battles Competition from other motion picture companies soon created heated legal battles between them and Edison over patents. Edison sued many companies for infringement. In 1909, the formation of the Motion Picture Patents Co. brought a degree of cooperation to the various companies who were given licenses in 1909, but in 1915, the courts found the company to be an unfair monopoly. In 1913, Edison experimented with synchronizing sound to film. A Kinetophone was developed by his laboratory and synchronized sound on a phonograph cylinder to the picture on a screen. Although this initially brought interest, the system was far from perfect and disappeared by 1915. By 1918, Edison ended his involvement in the motion picture field. In 1911, Edisons companies were re-organized into Thomas A. Edison, Inc. As the organization became more diversified and structured, Edison became less involved in the day-to-day operations, although he still had some decision-making authority. The goals of the organization became more to maintain market viability than to produce new inventions frequently. A fire broke out at the West Orange laboratory in 1914, destroying 13 buildings. Although the loss was great, Edison spearheaded the rebuilding of the lot. World War I When Europe became involved in World War I, Edison advised preparedness and felt that technology would be the future of war. He was named the head of the Naval Consulting Board in 1915, an attempt by the government to bring science into its defense program. Although mainly an advisory board, it was instrumental in the formation of a laboratory for the Navy that opened in 1923. During the war, Edison spent much of his time doing naval research, particularly on submarine detection, but he felt the Navy was not receptive to many of his inventions and suggestions. Health Issues In the 1920s, Edisons health became worse and he began to spend more time at home with his wife. His relationship with his children was distant, although Charles was president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. While Edison continued to experiment at home, he could not perform some experiments that he wanted to at his West Orange laboratory because the board would not approve them. One project that held his fascination during this period was the search for an alternative to rubber. Death and Legacy Henry Ford, an admirer and a friend of Edisons, reconstructed Edisons invention factory as a museum at Greenfield Village, Michigan, which opened during the 50th anniversary of Edisons electric light in 1929. The main celebration of Lights Golden Jubilee, co-hosted by Ford and General Electric, took place in Dearborn along with a huge celebratory dinner in Edisons honor attended by notables such as President Hoover, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., George Eastman, Marie Curie, and Orville Wright. Edisons health, however, had declined to the point that he could not stay for the entire ceremony. During the last two years of his life, a series of ailments caused his health to decline even more until he lapsed into a coma on October 14, 1931. He died on October 18, 1931, at his estate, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey. Sources Israel, Paul. Edison: A Life of Invention. New York, Wiley, 2000.Josephson, Matthew. Edison: A Biography. New York, Wiley, 1992.Stross, Randall E. The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. Biography of Thomas Edison, American Inventor Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847–October 18, 1931) was an American inventor who transformed the world with inventions including the lightbulb and the phonograph. He was considered the face of technology and progress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fast Facts: Thomas Edison Known For: Inventor of groundbreaking technology, including the lightbulb and the phonograph Born: February 11, 1847 in Milan, OhioParents: Sam Edison Jr. and Nancy Elliott EdisonDied: October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New JerseyEducation: Three months of formal education, homeschooled until age 12Published Works: Quadruplex telegraph, phonograph, unbreakable cylinder record called the Blue Ambersol, electric pen, a version of the incandescent lightbulb and an integrated system to run it, motion picture camera called a kinetographSpouse(s): Mary Stilwell, Mina MillerChildren: Marion Estelle, Thomas Jr., William Leslie by Mary Stilwell; and Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore Miller by Mina Miller Early Life Thomas Alva Edison was born to Sam and Nancy on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, the son of a Canadian refugee and his schoolteacher wife. Edisons mother Nancy Elliott was originally from New York until her family moved to Vienna, Canada, where she met Sam Edison, Jr., whom she later married. Sam was the descendant of British loyalists who fled to Canada at the end of the American Revolution, but when he became involved in an unsuccessful revolt in Ontario in the 1830s he was forced to flee to the United States. They made their home in Ohio in 1839. The family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1854, where Sam worked in the lumber business. Education and First Job Known as Al in his youth, Edison was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood, and all of them were in their teens when Edison was born. Edison tended to be in poor health when he was young and was a poor student. When a schoolmaster called Edison addled, or slow, his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint. At an early age, he showed a fascination for mechanical things and chemical experiments. In 1859 at the age of 12, Edison took a job selling newspapers and candy on the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit. He started two businesses in Port Huron, a newsstand and a fresh produce stand, and finagled free or very low-cost trade and transport in the train. In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board. Loss of Hearing Around the age of 12, Edison lost almost all of his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused this. Some attribute it to the aftereffects of scarlet fever, which he had as a child. Others blame it on a train conductor boxing his ears after Edison caused a fire in the baggage car, an incident Edison claimed never happened. Edison himself blamed it on an incident in which he was grabbed by his ears and lifted to a train. He did not let his disability discourage him, however, and often treated it as an asset since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research. Undoubtedly, though, his deafness made him more solitary and shy in dealing with others. Telegraph Operator In 1862, Edison rescued a 3-year-old from a track where a boxcar was about to roll into him. The grateful father, J.U. MacKenzie, taught Edison railroad telegraphy as a reward. That winter, he took a job as a telegraph operator in Port Huron. In the meantime, he continued his scientific experiments on the side. Between 1863 and 1867, Edison migrated from city to city in the United States, taking available telegraph jobs. Love of Invention In 1868, Edison moved to Boston where he worked in the Western Union office and worked even more on inventing things. In January 1869 Edison resigned from his job, intending to devote himself full time to inventing things. His first invention to receive a patent was the electric vote recorder, in June 1869. Daunted by politicians reluctance to use the machine, he decided that in the future he would not waste time inventing things that no one wanted. Edison moved to New York City in the middle of 1869. A friend, Franklin L. Pope, allowed Edison to sleep in a room where he worked, Samuel Laws Gold Indicator Company. When Edison managed to fix a broken machine there, he was hired to maintain and improve the printer machines. During the next period of his life, Edison became involved in multiple projects and partnerships dealing with the telegraph. In October 1869, Edison joined with Franklin L. Pope and James Ashley to form the organization Pope, Edison and Co. They advertised themselves as electrical engineers and constructors of electrical devices. Edison received several patents for improvements to the telegraph. The partnership merged with the Gold and Stock Telegraph Co. in 1870. American Telegraph Works Edison also established the Newark Telegraph Works in Newark, New Jersey, with William Unger to manufacture stock printers. He formed the American Telegraph Works to work on developing an automatic telegraph later in the year. In 1874 he began to work on a multiplex telegraphic system for Western Union, ultimately developing a quadruplex telegraph, which could send two messages simultaneously in both directions. When Edison sold his patent rights to the quadruplex to the rival Atlantic Pacific Telegraph Co., a series of court battles followed—which Western Union won. Besides other telegraph inventions, he also developed an electric pen in 1875. Marriage and Family His personal life during this period also brought much change. Edisons mother died in 1871, and he married his former employee Mary Stilwell on Christmas Day that same year. While Edison loved his wife, their relationship was fraught with difficulties, primarily his preoccupation with work and her constant illnesses. Edison would often sleep in the lab and spent much of his time with his male colleagues. Nevertheless, their first child Marion was born in February 1873, followed by a son, Thomas, Jr., in January 1876. Edison nicknamed the two Dot and Dash, referring to telegraphic terms. A third child, William Leslie, was born in October 1878. Mary died in 1884, perhaps of cancer or the morphine prescribed to her to treat it. Edison married again: his second wife was Mina Miller, the daughter of Ohio industrialist Lewis Miller, who founded the Chautauqua Foundation. They married on February 24, 1886, and had three children, Madeleine (born 1888), Charles (1890), and Theodore Miller Edison (1898). Menlo Park Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876. This site later become known as an invention factory, since they worked on several different inventions at any given time there. Edison would conduct numerous experiments to find answers to problems. He said, I never quit until I get what Im after. Negative results are just what Im after. They are just as valuable to me as positive results. Edison liked to work long hours and expected much from his employees. In 1879, after considerable experimentation and based on 70 years work of several other inventors, Edison invented a carbon filament that would burn for 40 hours—the first practical incandescent lightbulb. While Edison had neglected further work on the phonograph, others had moved forward to improve it. In particular, Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter developed an improved machine that used a wax cylinder and a floating stylus, which they called a graphophone. They sent representatives to Edison to discuss a possible partnership on the machine, but Edison refused to collaborate with them, feeling that the phonograph was his invention alone. With this competition, Edison was stirred into action and resumed his work on the phonograph in 1887. Edison eventually adopted methods similar to Bell and Tainters in his phonograph. Phonograph Companies The phonograph was initially marketed as a business dictation machine. Entrepreneur Jesse H. Lippincott acquired control of most of the phonograph companies, including Edisons, and set up the North American Phonograph Co. in 1888. The business did not prove profitable, and when Lippincott fell ill, Edison took over the management. In 1894, the North American Phonograph Co. went into bankruptcy, a move which allowed Edison to buy back the rights to his invention. In 1896, Edison started the National Phonograph Co. with the intent of making phonographs for home amusement. Over the years, Edison made improvements to the phonograph and to the cylinders which were played on them, the early ones being made of wax. Edison introduced an unbreakable cylinder record, named the Blue Amberol, at roughly the same time he entered the disc phonograph market in 1912. The introduction of an Edison disc was in reaction to the overwhelming popularity of discs on the market in contrast to cylinders. Touted as being superior to the competitions records, the Edison discs were designed to be played only on Edison phonographs and were cut laterally as opposed to vertically. The success of the Edison phonograph business, though, was always hampered by the companys reputation of choosing lower-quality recording acts. In the 1920s, competition from radio caused the business to sour, and the Edison disc business ceased production in 1929. Ore-Milling and Cement Another Edison interest was an ore milling process that would extract various metals from ore. In 1881, he formed the Edison Ore-Milling Co., but the venture proved fruitless as there was no market for it. He returned to the project in 1887, thinking that his process could help the mostly depleted Eastern mines compete with the Western ones. In 1889, the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works was formed, and Edison became absorbed by its operations and began to spend much time away from home at the mines in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. Although he invested much money and time into this project, it proved unsuccessful when the market went down, and additional sources of ore in the Midwest were found. Edison also became involved in promoting the use of cement and formed the Edison Portland Cement Co. in 1899. He tried to promote the widespread use of cement for the construction of low-cost homes and envisioned alternative uses for concrete in the manufacture of phonographs, furniture, refrigerators, and pianos. Unfortunately, Edison was ahead of his time with these ideas, as the widespread use of concrete proved economically unfeasible at that time. Motion Pictures In 1888, Edison met Eadweard Muybridge at West Orange and viewed Muybridges Zoopraxiscope. This machine used a circular disc with still photographs of the successive phases of movement around the circumference to recreate the illusion of movement. Edison declined to work with Muybridge on the device and decided to work on his motion picture camera at his laboratory. As Edison put it in a caveat written the same year, I am experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear. The task of inventing the machine fell to Edisons associate William K. L. Dickson. Dickson initially experimented with a cylinder-based device for recording images, before turning to a celluloid strip. In October 1889, Dickson greeted Edisons return from Paris with a new device that projected pictures and contained sound. After more work, patent applications were made in 1891 for a motion picture camera, called a Kinetograph, and a Kinetoscope, a motion picture peephole viewer. Kinetoscope parlors opened in New York and soon spread to other major cities during 1894. In 1893, a motion picture studio, later dubbed the Black Maria (the slang name for a police paddy wagon which the studio resembled), was opened at the West Orange complex. Short films were produced using a variety of acts of the day. Edison was reluctant to develop a motion picture projector, feeling that more profit was to be made with the peephole viewers. When Dickson assisted competitors on developing another peephole motion picture device and the eidoscope projection system, later to develop into the Mutoscope, he was fired. Dickson went on to form the American Mutoscope Co. along with Harry Marvin, Herman Casler, and Elias Koopman. Edison subsequently adopted a projector developed by Thomas Armat and Charles Francis Jenkins and renamed it the Vitascope and marketed it under his name. The Vitascope premiered on April 23, 1896, to great acclaim. Patent Battles Competition from other motion picture companies soon created heated legal battles between them and Edison over patents. Edison sued many companies for infringement. In 1909, the formation of the Motion Picture Patents Co. brought a degree of cooperation to the various companies who were given licenses in 1909, but in 1915, the courts found the company to be an unfair monopoly. In 1913, Edison experimented with synchronizing sound to film. A Kinetophone was developed by his laboratory and synchronized sound on a phonograph cylinder to the picture on a screen. Although this initially brought interest, the system was far from perfect and disappeared by 1915. By 1918, Edison ended his involvement in the motion picture field. In 1911, Edisons companies were re-organized into Thomas A. Edison, Inc. As the organization became more diversified and structured, Edison became less involved in the day-to-day operations, although he still had some decision-making authority. The goals of the organization became more to maintain market viability than to produce new inventions frequently. A fire broke out at the West Orange laboratory in 1914, destroying 13 buildings. Although the loss was great, Edison spearheaded the rebuilding of the lot. World War I When Europe became involved in World War I, Edison advised preparedness and felt that technology would be the future of war. He was named the head of the Naval Consulting Board in 1915, an attempt by the government to bring science into its defense program. Although mainly an advisory board, it was instrumental in the formation of a laboratory for the Navy that opened in 1923. During the war, Edison spent much of his time doing naval research, particularly on submarine detection, but he felt the Navy was not receptive to many of his inventions and suggestions. Health Issues In the 1920s, Edisons health became worse and he began to spend more time at home with his wife. His relationship with his children was distant, although Charles was president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. While Edison continued to experiment at home, he could not perform some experiments that he wanted to at his West Orange laboratory because the board would not approve them. One project that held his fascination during this period was the search for an alternative to rubber. Death and Legacy Henry Ford, an admirer and a friend of Edisons, reconstructed Edisons invention factory as a museum at Greenfield Village, Michigan, which opened during the 50th anniversary of Edisons electric light in 1929. The main celebration of Lights Golden Jubilee, co-hosted by Ford and General Electric, took place in Dearborn along with a huge celebratory dinner in Edisons honor attended by notables such as President Hoover, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., George Eastman, Marie Curie, and Orville Wright. Edisons health, however, had declined to the point that he could not stay for the entire ceremony. During the last two years of his life, a series of ailments caused his health to decline even more until he lapsed into a coma on October 14, 1931. He died on October 18, 1931, at his estate, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey. Sources Israel, Paul. Edison: A Life of Invention. New York, Wiley, 2000.Josephson, Matthew. Edison: A Biography. New York, Wiley, 1992.Stross, Randall E. The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.