Thursday, November 28, 2019

The World Is Forever In Debt To China For Its Innovations. Ancient Chi

The World is forever in debt to China for its innovations. Ancient China was extreme advance and many of its discoveries are still in use today. This is what Robert Temple, the author of The Genius of China 3000 years of science, discovery and invention. The book is based on 11 main parts of Chinese innovation. Within these 11 categories, there are 3 main parts that contain the most significant inventions. Robert Temple concentrates the bulk of his examples in these three categories, agriculture, domestic and industrial technology , and engineering. Temple's examples were not limited to these fields of innovation. The Chinese excelled in many other areas, including mathematics, warfare and transportation, to name a few. Although Temple wrote about eleven fields of invention, I feel that these three sections contain the greatest examples of Chinese innovation, and the debt that the modern world owes China. The first main area is the field of engineering. Within this chapter, the development of iron and steel is the greatest achievement. The development of iron and steel led to other advances. By at least the 4th century the Chinese have developed blast furnaces to obtain cast iron from iron ore. This was 1200 years before the first blast furnace showed up in Europe. The reasons that the author gave to explain the reasons why the Chinese developed this technology are simple. The Chinese had access to large amounts of clay, the key ingredient in making blast furnaces. The Chinese also figured out that by adding a substance they called :Black Earth,? they could lower the melting point of iron. Another major invention of the Chinese, that led to other achievements, is steel. The common belief today is that Henry Bessemer discovered the process of refining iron into steel. The fact is Chinese had developed the process to refine iron into steel in the second century BC The Chinese learned that by injecting oxygen into the blast furnace, they could remove th e carbon from the iron. The Chinese called this process the ?hundred refinings method? since they repeated the process that many times. The finished product was highly prized in China for its strength and ability to hold an edge on a sword. The Chinese would weld the steel onto weaker iron thus creating a strong edge and a superior weapon. The Chinese iron and steel workers were the best at making different types of metals into modern times. But then, no one else could have done so at the time, since iron existed nowhere else but in China. The Chinese invented the chain pump in the first century AD The chain pump allows water to the pumped from lower to higher elevations. The chain pumps were used for draining and pumping in civil engineering, but what is more important is it was used for irrigation. Irrigation allows for greater and more intense farming, thus resulting in a better crop yield. With the greater crop yields larger populations can be supported. The chain pump was exported to all parts of the world by way of visiting ambassadors and dignitaries. The first European chain pump appeared in the sixteenth century, and was a direct copy of the Chinese version. The second area of great Chinese achievement is in domestic and industrial technology. The most recognized Chinese invention is in the field of domestic and industrial technology, paper. Paper was invented around the second century BC and was used as clothing. One might not believe that paper could be used as clothing, but the paper made at that time used thicker and tougher paper fibers. Not only was paper used for clothing, it was also used for military body armor. The Chinese found out that pleated sheets of paper could stop the penetration of arrows. The paper armor was standard issue with Chinese land and sea units. Paper's writing property was not discovered till about one century after its discovery. The earliest example of writing on paper was found an abandon military post. Th e paper found dates back to 110 AD and contained two dozen readable characters. The area that let China grow and expand was the innovations in the area of agriculture. The greatest achievement

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Comparing and Contrasting two World Famous Political Theorists essays

Comparing and Contrasting two World Famous Political Theorists essays Both leaders of their generations, Martin Luther and Niccolo Machiavelli were also religious and political icons. Through their theses, essays, and books they were able to successfully convey their views to the public. Martin Luther was a lawyer turned priest, who tried to open the eyes of the public to the general corruption of the Catholic Church. His 95 theses were the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, while Machiavelli used his skills as a writer, with The Prince, and other works, to bring to light the issues of politics. Known as the father of modern day politics, Machiavelli took his ideas public and changed government, as we know it. Both men were determined to break up the monopoly of knowledge and power that the Catholic Church held over the people. Through examination of Machiavellis The Prince, and Martin Luthers Christian Liberty, their different views on the individual, God, and the state will be compared and contrasted to better understand their issues wi th the Catholic Church. Many people say that Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 theses on the front gate of the Catholic Church. Some of these people also say that these theses were an attack on the Church. Both of these statements are false. Martin Luther, a brilliant philosopher during the Renaissance, traveled to Rome in 1511 as the delegated representative of seven allied Augustinian monasteries to protest against some improvements of Staupitz. His experiences as a monk and a priest were fulfilling to his Catholic enlightenment. For example, his trip to Withberg to receive the sub-prior position helped Luther to gain respect and earn more important and valued positions with in the Church. While moving his way up in the Church, Luther was able to see the corruption and deceptiveness that the Catholic Church had become involved in. During his year associated with the Church, he was able to develop his...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

PESTEL analysis of the automotive industry in United Kingdom Essay

PESTEL analysis of the automotive industry in United Kingdom - Essay Example It elaborates the macroeconomic factors that are used to scan the environment before taking any strategic decision in an organisation (Mercer, 2008). PESTEL stands for: P- Political; E- Economic; S- Social; T- Technological; E-Environmental; L- Legal. The few constituents of PESTEL of the automotive industry are as follows: The firms should be aware of the political factors like the trading policies, governmental changes in rules and regulations of the production of cars which includes safety standards and fuel emissions. Economic factors influencing business includes taxation policies, economies and trends, trade cycles and exchange rate and interest rate changes (Thompson, 2001). Cars are the polluting agents which pollute the environment to such an extent that it can be dangerous to the society and large emission of harmful gases can even lead to diseases. Cars manufactures are introducing Alternative Energy Vehicles that use only electricity and has rechargeable battery (Booz, 20 08). The challenges that are faced by the automotive industry are that it is very expensive and this will be the solution for lowering pollutants. Environmental pollutants have been the basic challenge for this industry which is threatening the automotive industry worldwide and thus they should pay attention to the alternative energy vehicle (Ferrel, 2012). The firm should always comply with all rules and regulations that are levied on car manufacturing , such as safety and standard issues, gas emission laws, vehicles regulations, etc (Mercer, 2008). 2. Trend forecast for 2016 Fords Motor Company, an automobile giant has it’s headquarter in United States. It has expanded its market in many countries like Japan, India etc. Ford has been suffering from many hurdles which are affecting the business. The challenges are coming from the macroeconomic environment and it has threatened their existence. PESTEL analysis has been done to identify the factors that are affecting the exist ence of the automotive company (Craik, 2013). The following are the challenges that are faced by Ford and their future planning till 2016 so that they can overcome the challenges: 1) The rising price of oil has made customers less automotive friendly (Ferrel, 2012). Ford has been doing technological adjustment which is helping them build a modern standard in the present outline. By 2016 it will reach its destination by creating such technologies which can even give the solution for using expensive oils. In many countries, the financer of the organisation has been playing a crucial role in the development and the progress of the organisation (Ferrel, 2012). 2) Accelerating growth in the developing countries is very difficult and thus attaining customers is near to impossible. But Ford has targeted a potential market to penetrate with its motors and thus give them a changed phase by the year 2016. 3) The sale of Ford was also affected by the types of motors that are being used by the people. But when the income of the mass is elevated to that position that they can pay attention to own a luxury car the sale of Ford has increased (Burrow, 2011). For the future development Ford concentrate on developing low priced cars so that it can be afforded by the mass (Sturgeon and Biesebroeck, 2010). 4) Consumer preferences changes from time to time (Miller, 2012). Their taste and likings are not stagnant for all time. They try to experience new brands and that affects the sales of the