U1 Warming up reading 6.ppt

2. Charles Darwin, Britain (1808 -- 1882) The Origin of Species was published in 1859. It explained how plants and animals had changed over time to fit in with a changing environment. controversial argument accepted today 3. Thomas Newcomen, British (1663--1729) He improved the first steam pump built by Thomas Savery in 1698 and turned it into a steam engine for taking water out of mines in 1712. James Watt improved it still further in the 1770s turning it into the first modern steam engine used on the railways. 4. Gregor Mendel, Czech (1822- 1884) He grew pea plants and developed ideas on heredity(遗传学) and inherited (继承,承传) characteristics. He concentrated (集中精力) on cross-fertilizing (施肥) pea plants and analyzing the results. dominant 显性的recessive 隐性的 5. Marie Curie, Polish and French (1867--1934) In 1898 she discovered radium. She received two Nobel prizes, one ( with Pierre Curie ) for physics (1903) and one for chemistry (1911). 6. Thomas Edison, American (1847- 1931) He was already an inventor of other electrical devices ( phonograph电唱机, electric light bulb) when in 1882 he designed a system for providing New York with electricity from a central power station. This was a tremendous achievement, which had previously been thought impossible. 7. Leonardo da Vinci, Italian (1452- 1519) He was a famous artist whose skill for showing human skin tones made his paintings seem to come alive. He used to study dead people in order to make his paintings as accurate as possible. 8. Sir Humphry Davy, British (1778- 1829) He did research into different gases and discovered the medicinal value of nitrous(麻醉) oxide(氧化物) (or laughing gas) as an anaesthetic(麻醉剂). In 1815 he invented a safety lamp to keep miners safe underground. 9. Zhang Heng, Chinese (78- 139) He invented the first seismograph(测震 仪、地震仪) to indicate in the direction of an earthquake. It was in the sha