Samuel Bourne of Nottingham

Abstract

Samuel Bourne was one of the great pioneers of travel photography, and the photographs which he took in India during the 1860s have become familiar to a wide audience through their inclusion in exhibitions, their use as book illustrations and also through television coverage. Although acknowledging the merit of that aspect of his work, this paper discusses the hitherto comparatively little-known role which he played in the arena of photography during the period immediately before he went to India, and also his activities in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries.     

The motion machine of Samuel Theodor Quellmalz

In 1735 the physician Samuel Theodor Quellmalz invented a machine which imitated the movements of a horse and was designed for medical treatment as well as general fitness. The invention paradigmaticlly characterizes the dominant medical discourse of that time and demonstrates a new confidence in technical innovations     

The designers contribution to company success

For the past 25 years Dieter Rams has worked for just two companies. The reason for this deliberate decision will become clear in the following articles.In this, the first in a series of three, Professor Rams discusses the definition and prerequisites of good design. The second article will describe the qualifications and education of designers and the final article will examine the future role of designers.The two companies are Braun AG who manufacture domestic electrical goods and Vitsoe who make furniture. When Dieter Rams joined Braun in 1955 the company employed just under 2000 people and had a turnover of 50 million DM. Now the company employ 9000 and have sales totalling more than 800 million DM.Vitsoe was founded in 1959 to manufacture furniture designed by Rams. Today the company employs 50 people and has sales of 6 million DM.     

A new measure of innovation: The patent success ratio

Summary Patents have become increasingly important, especially over the past two decades. As patent office procedures have adapted to remain abreast of changing economic and scientific circumstances, it has also become increasingly important to define and analyse innovation more precisely. This paper introduces a simple new measure of innovation, the patent success ratio (PSR), or the ratio of successful patent applications to total patent applications. It has been argued in the extensive literature on innovation and technology policy that patents can serve as an accurate proxy for innovative activity or innovation. This paper suggests that PSR is a more accurate measure of how innovative activity has changed over time. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the usefulness of the new PSR measure of innovation using annual US data for the period 1915-2001.     

Plutonium metallurgy in India

The embryo of plutonium metallurgy in India, as well as in Asia, was formed nearly 25 years back in Trombay. Thereafter, in the intervening 25 years, significant amount of research and development work have been carried out atbarc on this man-made fissile element and indigenisation has been achieved in the fabrication, characterisation and property evaluation of plutonium metal, delta-stabilised alloys, Al-Pu fuels, Pu-Be neutron sources, (UPu)O₂ fuels for thermal and fast reactors and (UPu)C and (UPu)N advanced fuels for liquid metal-cooled fast breeder reactors (lmfbr). This paper summarises the development of plutonium metallurgy in India highlighting the safety aspects, our achievements and potential of plutonium for generation of nuclear electricity in the coming decades.     

Science and technology policies: The case of India

During the years preceding India's independence on August 15, 1947, the Indian National Congress focused considerable attention on the importance of science and technology, including scientific planning in an independent country. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, held the portfolio for science and technology, as have most of his successors. Nehru was largely responsible for Parliament's adoption of the 1958 Science Policy Resolution. In 1971, the governments of Indira Gandhi and her son, Rajiv Gandhi, took important steps to integrate scientific planning with economic planning. During these years, significant new government institutions were created. The current government of Manmohan Singh, which maintains an active national science advisory committee, has made significant changes in the Indian government's science and technology structure and is creating new institutions for science, technology, and higher education.Currently, India's total investment in research and development is somewhat less than 1% of the gross domestic product, but this ratio is expected to rise to 2% or more in the next few years. The government currently accounts for 85–90% of the country's R&D, but there are indications that private-sector investments will become more important.India has long enjoyed wide-ranging cooperation with several countries, including the US, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, and Russia. During the years immediately following independence, the UK exerted more influence on Indian science than any other country. Today the US has considerable influence, especially as it is also a preferred destination for Indian students and post-doctoral fellows.     

The first 100 000 HC-290 split air conditioners in India

In 2012, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. launched their first HC-290 split air conditioners, which was the first in India. Since then, more than 100 000 air conditioners have been placed on the market. This article provides an overview of the development process and challenges and provides an analysis of the current situation in terms of safety and reliability. The development of these products involved an iterative process of charge minimisation, performance optimisation and integration of safety features, and the results of these are detailed within the article. Subsequent to the sales of these machines, data were obtained from field technicians as well as end users in order to evaluate the reliability and robustness of the installed systems and associated service activities. The present paper summarises the results of the findings.     

2004年质量工作好戏连台

国家质检总局对今年质检工作提出:要以服务经济、促进发展为目标,以提高产品质量为首要任务,实现"五个提升". 一、把工作目标从采取切实 措施,提高产品质量、工程质量和服务质量,提升到着眼于实施"以质取胜"战略,全面提高我国产业、企业和产品在国内外两个市场的竞争力.     

Land use planning in India

India was the first country to provide for the protection and improvement of environment in its constitution. Land use planning (LUP) or siting of industries has been taken up at the State and Central (Federal) levels over the last few decades. LUP is critical for all types of industries and new residential colonies, but is especially so for the chemical industries. With the experience gained, more coherence in LUP policies is emerging. A few prominent cases of siting of industry, some mixed with public outcry, that have affected the policies are noted in the text. Various factors which affect LUP in India are: population density, infrastructure (roads, power, communication, etc.), level of industrialization in different parts, need for creation of jobs, eco-sensitive regions, tribal regions, historical monuments, etc. This paper discusses the current scene in India and the near future aspects.     

Fusion research programme in India

The fusion energy research program of India is summarized in the context of energy needs and scenario of tokamak advancements on domestic and international fronts. In particular, the various technologies that will lead us to ultimately build a fusion power reactor are identified along with the steps being taken for their indigenous development.     

China and India: The two new players in the nanotechnology race

Nanotechnology is promising to be the ??transformative?? technology of the 21st century with its boundless potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries. Stakes are high as projected estimate of market value and economic and social benefits are immense for countries that can attain competency in this technology. This has stimulated OECD countries as well as emerging economies to channel huge resources for developing core capabilities in this technology. Unlike, other key technologies, recent influential reports highlight China in particular and to some extent India, Brazil and other emerging economies competing with advanced OECD countries in ??nanotechnology??. The present paper investigates through bibliometric and innovation indicators to what extent China and India have been able to assert their position in the global stage. The paper also underscores the importance of capturing indications from standards and products/processes along with publications and patents to capture more accurately the latent variable ??performance??. Study shows that China??s progress is remarkable; it has already attained leading position in publications and standard development. India is making its presence more visible particularly in publications. China??s research is more sophisticated and addresses nano-materials and its applications whereas India??s research shows healthy trend towards addressing developmental problems.     

Development of solid propellant technology in India

Space research in India started in 1961 when a two-stage rocket was launched from Thumba on 21 November 1963. On the sudden passing away of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the originator of the Indian space programme, Prof. Satish Dhawan became the second chairman of ISRO. His stewardship saw it through its teething troubles on to launching of several R & D tasks and growth of several ISRO Centres. Major breakthrough in many hightech areas took place during this period. High energy composite solid propellants were developed, characterized and produced at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and at the Sriharikota Centre. Exotic fuel binders such as CHEF-20, Polyol and HTPB for these propellants were also developed in ISRO as part of the indigenisation programme. The Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) conceived in the early seventies, was fitted with four stage motors filled with solid propellants made in ISRO’s own plants. These facilities, including critical process equipment, have come up as a result of ISRO’s indigenization efforts. The SHAR Plant known as PROB has been further augmented to produce large propellant grains to meet the needs of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).     

Specification of design wind loads in India

Codes in current use in India for specifying design wind loads for structures are analysed, and shown to be inconsistent with available data on extremes. Thus, it is found that while the National Building Code specifies the highest wind loads on the east coast and western Gujarat, the observed extreme winds are highest in the eastern Gangetic valley. As the consequences of under-specification can be serious, a careful re-examination of the code seems called for. It is argued that although the available data on extremes may not be complete, they provide a more rational basis for formulating a building code; as wind loads become more important in construction engineering a serious effort at generating and analysing the required meteorological data seems highly worthwhile. However, procedures followed elsewhere for predicting extreme winds and the nature of gusts need to be validated for the country. In addition there is also a need to study certain meteorological phenomena peculiar to the Indian subcontinent like the duststorms and the nor’westers of north India. The work reported here was carried out under a project “Design, Fabrication and Testing of a 10,000 litres/hour Windpump”, financed and administered by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. An erratum to this article is available at .