Martin - Profile


Why computers are often used in banks
The need for rapid communication between a central office and outlying branches is now under consideration in many spheres..
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Why the babylonians were such good mathematicians
The civilization which developed in the area of the river Tigris and the river Euphrates reached its greatest splendour with the second Babylonian Empire about 2,500 years ago..
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Why the romans substituted the arch for the architrave
An indispensable complement of the columns was the architrave that is the supported part which rested on the columns and upon which was then placed the roof of the building..
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Why we see shooting stars at night
They are not really stars but meteors. We can see many of them at night, especially in August: they mark the dark sky with swift luminous traces and then disappear..
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Why the first cars had solid tyres
When a technical discovery is made and something new is produced it is based logically upon ideas and materials which already exist..
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Why liquids are measured in litres
The metre was made the only unit of measurement in France for measuring length with effect from 1 January 1 840..
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Why our calendar is called gregorian
The Gregorian calendar which still exists today is named after Pope Gregory XIII under whose pontificate the reform of the calendar was carried out..
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Why the microscope has saved many lives
The microscope is an instrument fitted with special lenses which enables us to see things which are invisible to the naked eye..
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Why eclipses of the sun and moon occur
Eclipses of the Moon and of the Sun have been the subject of study from the earliest times. The Sun used to be regarded as a benevolent deity and men were terrified when it suddenly became dark..
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Why time is based on greenwich
A day is the interval of time between two consecutive passages of the Sun over the same meridian, and it is therefore the result of the Earth’s rotation..
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Why there are craters on the surface of the moon
We know that the craters which we can see on the Moon are for the most part due to meteoroids. All the bodies in space are subjected to a constant rain of meteoroids, large and small..
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Why hovercraft are so successful
Water offers strong resistance to swimmers and vessels of any kind. However, powerful the means of propulsion, the speed of a vessel is very limited as compared with land and air transport..
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Why detectors of radioactive particles are important
The techniques of nuclear science have led to the invention of various instruments for detecting the presence of radiation and to indicate their exact intensity..
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Why the last two centuries were so important for scientific progress
In the past 1 50 years the rate of human progress has increased enormously..
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Why trains need rails
Trains were born on rails and still continue to run on them. This association of trains and rails is due to the way in which trains evolved..
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Why the romans could not do complicated calculations
Roman numerals, which are still in use for certain purposes, were rather rudimentary and perhaps that is why the Romans, who were very advanced in certain respects, were certainly no good at mathematics..
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Why hot springs are found in some areas
There are two different phenomena where water and gases are ejected from cracks in the Earth: those in which the jet is continuous, called fumaroles and those where the jet is intermittent, called geysers..
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Why every nation has produced its own form of art
It was believed for a long time that the only valid and acceptable art forms were the classical ones, that is those produced by the western Greco- Latin civilizations..
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Why computers need memories
The memory of a computer is the part of the computer in which it holds programs and also data..
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Why steel is only a recent invention
When we recall that man discovered metals in prehistoric times, the era of steel which goes back less than 150 years may seem quite recent..
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