CLEVER ESSEX BALLOON DEBATE PART OF A SCHOOL’S EDUCATION PACK – PRODUCED BY (www.cleveressex.com) WHO AM I? William Gilbert was an English doctor, physicist, writer and natural philosopher who was born in Colchester, Essex, in 1544 to a wealthy family. He went to Cambridge University at the age of just 14 and became a doctor. He was extremely famous in his lifetime and served Elizabeth I as her private physician in the last few years of her reign. WHAT DID I DO? Gilbert wrote many books but is best-known for his six volume work published in 1600 called De Magnete (full title: On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Magnet the Earth), which quickly became the most important work in Europe on electrical and magnetic phenomena. In this book he describes the experiments he conducted with magnets, where he realised that the earth was magnetic and that this was the reason compasses point north. He was the first to see that the centre of the Earth was formed of iron. The book was published during a time when Europeans were making long sea voyages and the magnetic compass was one of the few instruments available at the time to stop sailors getting hopelessly (and usually fatally) lost. Through his experiments and research Gilbert helped sailors understand more about magnets, saving hundreds and thousands of lives. His ideas were radical at a time when most people believed that the earth was at the centre of the universe. Galileo looked at Gilberts experiments with magnets and eventually came up with the theory that the earth revolves around the sun. Gilbert is also known as the originator of the term "electricity" and he invented the first electrical measuring instrument, the electroscope, which looked like a pivoted needle. Gilbert was a pioneer in the work of magnets and electricity and became famous throughout the world in his own lifetime and had a great influence on future scientists. WHAT WOULD THE WORLD LOOK LIKE IF I WAS EJECTED FROM THE BALLOON BEFORE I ACHIEVED? Ideas about electricity may be put back a good twenty or thirty years. That means if Gilbert hadn’t developed his ideas when he did, we probably wouldn’t yet have the internet or Xbox! EXTRA ARGUMENTS: (you can think of your own extra arguments too!) A man who understands magnetics, electricity and compasses deserves a place in the balloon! FURTHER RESOURCES: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gilbert_william.shtml; http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-physics/electric-charge-and-current-short-history; http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/gilbert.html http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www%2Dspof.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthmag/demagint.htm; CLEVER ESSEX BALLOON DEBATE PART OF A SCHOOL’S EDUCATION PACK – PRODUCED BY (www.cleveressex.com) WHO AM I? William Charles Kernot was born on 16 June 1845 at Rochford, Essex. He was an engineer and educationist. Kernot studied engineering at the University of Melbourne. In 1866 he became the first qualified engineer produced by the university. He advocated that engineering should be studied at universities and also tried to help working men into education. WHAT DID I DO? Charles’ family emigrated to Australia where he became a professor of engineering, the first, at the University of Melbourne. Travelling around the country, studying the construction of railway bridges, he took part in an inquiry into the idea of placing telephone and telegraph wires underground. He published numerous scientific papers. In 1889 he became chairman of the council of the Working Men's College and ploughed a great deal of his personal money into developing courses for engineers and scholarships for working class men. He may have saved many lives when, in the late 1880s, he launched a campaign to force the railways to admit to weaknesses in the Moorabool viaduct. He also investigated flood control on the Yarra and Barwon rivers in Australia. Kernot was a member of the Australian Antarctic Committee which played a vital role in the exploration of the Antarctic continent. WHAT WOULD THE WORLD LOOK LIKE IF I WAS EJECTED FROM THE BALLOON BEFORE I ACHIEVED? (you can think of your own reasons too!) He was passionate in his campaign to have engineering recognized as something worthy of study. It was only because of his pressure that courses in mining engineering (1901) and mechanical engineering (1907) were introduced. Many have called him 'the first Australian engineer', without whom engineering would not be so respected today. EXTRA ARGUMENTS: (you can think of your own extra arguments too!) Charles William Kernot was a great ballooning enthusiast! He knew everything about balloons. Combined with his engineering expertise he’d be invaluable in this balloon! FURTHER RESOURCES: E. Scott, A History of the University of Melbourne (Melb, 1936) G. Blainey, A Centenary History of the University of Melbourne (Melb, 1957) Kernot papers (State Library of Victoria) wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Charles_Kernot CLEVER ESSEX BALLOON DEBATE PART OF A SCHOOL’S EDUCATION PACK – PRODUCED BY (www.cleveressex.com) WHO AM I? George Warwick Deeping was a prolific English novelist and short story writer who was born in Southend on Sea in 1877. He lived in Prospect House, which once stood opposite the Royal Hotel in Southend High Street. Later he moved to nearby Royal Terrace, overlooking the Thames Estuary. His father was a doctor and George followed in his footsteps, studying medicine at Cambridge University but after completing his training and working as a doctor for a year, he gave it up to become a full time writer. WHAT DID I DO? During world War I George Warwick Deeping joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and saw active service in Gallipoli, Egypt and France. His first really successful novel was called Sorrell and Son (1925) about a father who devotes his life to making his son’s a success. The novel is based on Deeping's experiences during the First World War. The book was so popular it was made into a silent movie in 1927, which was remade in 1934 as a sound film and then in 1984 Sorrell and Son was turned into a TV mini-series. His work was not always well received by literary critics, who disliked his melodramatic plots. He wrote a huge number of historical romances and despite wide spread criticism he became one of the bestselling authors of the 1920s and 1930s. A number of his novels, particularly The Dark House and Mr Gurney and Mr Slade are set in the fictional town of Southfleet, which sounded a lot like Southend at the time. Deeping also published fiction in several US magazines, including the Saturday Evening Post and Adventure. He published over 200 original short stories and essays in various British fiction magazines, which were eventually put together into the multi-volume "Lost Story" collection. Three silent films were made, based on Deeping's novels: Unrest in 1920, Fox Farm in 1922, and Doomsday in 1928. Kitty (1929), directed by Victor Saville, was the first British talkie ever, which was based on one of Deeping’s books. Deeping published over sixty books in his lifetime, an enormous achievement for this former doctor from Southend. He died on 20th April 1950 and is buried in St John’s Church Gardens in Southend near the Royals. WHAT WOULD THE WORLD LOOK LIKE IF I WAS EJECTED FROM THE BALLOON BEFORE I ACHIEVED? (you can think of your own reasons too!) The world needs writers! Southend should be proud of having produced a 1920s version of Dan Brown! FURTHER RESOURCES: http://jmb.sagepub.com/content/16/2/103.extract http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Deeping http://www.southendtimeline.com/warwickdeeping.htm CLEVER ESSEX BALLOON DEBATE PART OF A SCHOOL’S EDUCATION PACK – PRODUCED BY (www.cleveressex.com) WHO AM I? Vivienne Price was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Vivienne was raised in Epsom by her mother, after her father, Eric, died. She attended Rosebery school and won an exhibition to the Royal College of Music aged 16, where she learned the violin. Vivienne trained the junior orchestra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, qualifying as a teacher in 1952. She was the founder of the National Children’s Orchestra (NCO) and a music teacher who influenced the lives of thousands of children. WHAT DID I DO? Vivienne Price was always dedicated to helping children learn. Even when she was a student, she taught children at her home. Later she ran a Saturday morning school for children aged up to 12. All instruments were taught, with the help of visiting teachers, and many participants went on to junior colleges of music. Vivienne trained the junior orchestra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, qualifying as a teacher in 1952. The first home of the National Children’s’ Orchestra the Surrey house that Vivienne bought with her husband, Tony Carter, in 1978. After they divorced in the mid-1980s, the operation moved to Ashtead, where the Orchestra had its office above her bungalow. The Queen Elizabeth Hall, on the South Bank in London, was the main concert venue. A training orchestra was started to cope with increasing demand and insufficient places. Today there are five national and six regional orchestras, and other satellite groups to complement the core orchestral training. Vivienne was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Music Teacher awards for excellence 2014. She was made MBE in 1997 and died in November 2014. WHAT WOULD THE WORLD LOOK LIKE IF I WAS EJECTED FROM THE BALLOON BEFORE I ACHIEVED? (you can think of your own reasons too!) Music speaks across language barriers.