Biography of Lewis Latimer, Noted Black Inventor

Biography of Lewis Latimer, Noted Black Inventor Lewis Latimer (September 4, 1848–December 11, 1928) is considered one of the most important African-American inventors, for the number of inventions he produced and patents he secured, but also for the importance of his best-known discovery: a longer-lasting filament for the electric light. He also helped Alexander Graham Bell obtain the patent for the first telephone. Latimer was in great demand for his expertise later in his career as electric light spread across the country. Fast Facts: Lewis Latimer Known For: Improved the electric lightAlso Known As: Louis LatimerBorn: September 4, 1848 in Chelsea, MassachusettsParents: Rebecca and George LatimerDied: December 11, 1928 in Flushing, Queens, New YorkPublished Works: Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison SystemSpouse: Mary WilsonChildren: Emma Jeanette, Louise RebeccaNotable Quote: We create our future, by well improving present opportunities: however few and small they are. Early Life Lewis Latimer was born on September 4, 1848, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of four children born to George Latimer, a paperhanger, and Rebecca Smith Latimer, both escaped slaves. His parents had fled from Virginia in 1842, hiding beneath the deck of a northbound ship, but his father was recognized in Boston, Massachusetts by a former employee of their owner. George Latimer was arrested as a fugitive and brought to trial, where he was defended by noted abolitionists Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. Eventually, a group of abolitionists paid $400 for his freedom. George Latimer disappeared shortly after the Dred Scott decision of 1857, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Scott, a slave, couldnt sue for his freedom. Possibly fearing a return to slavery, Latimer went underground. It was a great hardship for the rest of the Latimer family. Early Career Lewis Latimer worked to help support his mother and siblings. Then, In 1864, at age 15, Latimer lied about his age in order to enlist in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Latimer was assigned to the gunboat USS Massasoit and received an honorable discharge on July 3, 1865. He returned to Boston, Massachusetts and took a position as an office boy with the patent law firm Crosby Gould. He taught himself mechanical drawing and drafting by observing draftsmen at the firm. Recognizing Latimers talent and promise, the partners promoted him to draftsman and, eventually, head draftsmen. During this time he married  Mary Wilson in November 1873. The couple had two daughters, Emma Jeanette and Louise Rebecca. The Telephone In 1874 while at the firm, Latimer co-invented an improvement to the bathroom compartment of trains. Two years later, he was sought out as a draftsman by an instructor of children who were hard of hearing; the man wanted drawings for a patent application on a device he had created. The instructor was Alexander Graham Bell, and the device was the telephone. Working late into the evenings, Latimer labored to complete the patent application. It was submitted on Feb. 14, 1876, just hours before another application was made for a similar device. With Latimers help, Bell won the patent rights to the telephone. Edisons Competitor In 1880, after relocating to Bridgeport, Connecticut, Latimer was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Co., which was owned by Hiram Maxim. Maxim was the chief competitor of Thomas Edison, who had invented the electric light. Edison’s light consisted of a nearly airless glass bulb surrounding a carbon wire filament, typically made from bamboo, paper, or thread. When electricity ran through the filament, it became so hot that it literally glowed. Maxim hoped to improve on Edison’s light bulb by focusing on its main weakness: its brief life span, typically only a few days. Latimer set out to make a longer-lasting light bulb. He developed a way to encase the filament in a cardboard envelope that prevented the carbon from breaking up, giving the bulbs a much longer life while making them less expensive and more efficient. Latimer’s expertise had become well known, and he was sought after to continue to improve on incandescent lighting as well as arc lighting. As more major cities began wiring their roadways for electric lighting, Latimer was selected to lead several planning teams. He helped install the first electric plants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; and Montreal, Quebec. He also oversaw the installation of lighting in railroad stations, government buildings, and major thoroughfares in Canada, New England, and London. Edison Latimer started working for Edison in 1884 and became involved in Edisons infringement lawsuits. He worked in the legal department of the Edison Electric Light Co. as the chief draftsman and patent specialist. He drafted sketches and documents related to Edison patents, looked over plants in search of patent infringements, carried out patent searches, and testified in court on Edison’s behalf. He never worked in any of Edisons labs, but he was the only black member of a group known as the Edison Pioneers, men who had worked closely with the inventor in his early years. Latimer also co-authored a book on electricity published in 1890 called Incandescent Electric Lighting: A Practical Description of the Edison System. Later Innovations In subsequent years, Latimer continued to display his innovative abilities. In 1894 he created a safety elevator, a vast improvement on existing elevators. Then he obtained a patent for â€Å"Locking Racks for Hats, Coats, and Umbrellas† that was used in restaurants, resorts, and office buildings. He also developed a method for making rooms more hygienic and climate-controlled, named an â€Å"Apparatus for Cooling and Disinfecting.† Latimer died on December 11, 1928, in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, New York. His wife Mary had died four years earlier. Legacy Lewis Latimer rose from humble beginnings with little education to play a major role in the development of two products that had massive impacts on the lives of Americans: the light bulb and the telephone. The fact that he was a black American born in the 19th century made his many successes even more impressive. Sources Lewis Latimer. Greatblackheroes.com.Lewis Howard Latimer Biography. Biography.com.Lewis Latimer. Famousinventors.org.

Managing Finance Resources and Decisions subject Assignment - 1

Managing Finance Resources and Decisions subject - Assignment Example When it comes to the cash flow forecast of North Seaton, the prediction shows that the company is failing to generate adequate income to cover its expenditures. A relatively comparison of the income and expenditure data suggests that the increase in expenditure is not being equally complemented with a similar or greater level of increase in the net income (Schleifer, Sullivan and Murdough, 2014). That is why the monthly surplus figures are far lower than the deficits which in turn results in the company incurring significant proportion of cash flow deficits every month. Moreover, the company is failing to attain economies of scale and scope which is why the purchase expenditures have been increase in the last six months of the year. The cash deficits that has been realized every month is also because of the insurance premium of  £55,000 and  £50,000 paid in the month of January and May respectively. This has largely depleted the profit margin for the company. The quarterly bill p aid for electricity and heat has also reduced the company’s margin of income. Although the expenditure behind buying company vehicles was one off, but it has proven to be big burden for the company given the fact that they have to incur a constant maintenance expense of  £11,000 throughout the year. All the above mentioned facts are largely responsible for the cash deficits incurred by the company every month. b. The major reason behind such problems within the sales budget can be attributed to the failure of the company analysts in forecasting the demand for products. The inaccurate predictions led to a demand supply gap which in turn led the company to incur negative variances between sales budget and the generated sales (Nugus, 2009). Other reasons that can be attributed to this discrepancy are inappropriate marketing strategies adopted by the company,

Science Meets Real Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Science Meets Real Life - Essay Example This conclusion also has a chance of being faulty. There exists a chance of error in both of the final decisions sought over in the above description. To ensure our conclusion even more we enter our house once more and turn on the switch of another lamp to check whether it turns on or not. If this new lamp also would not turn on then it would be certain that there is no electricity in the house. The way this would be scientifically assessed is narrated a follows: Analysis: Either the bulb would glow or it would not glow. If the bulb glows in the second lamp then it may be decided that there has been a fault in the wiring of the initial lamp that was attempted to be turned on when the person reached home. There exists the possibility of a POSSIBLE ERROR here and that is that the lamp may not have been plugged into the socket properly. Just as the possibility of the lamp not being plucked into the socket was discussed, this possibility may also be assumed for the initial lamp. Hence the hypothetical testing of possibilities behind the non- functioning of the lamp continues unless and until all possible situations have been addressed. If the water is not coming out of the main water outlet then there arise two possibilities. Either there is no water in the overhead task or the tap has malfunctioned and is not letting water through. In order to clarify this situation the following scientific experiment is conducted: Analysis: If there is now water emission from any of the taps within the house then it may well be concluded that there must not be any water in the overhead water tank. However, if water is coming out of the other taps it may be assessed that there might be an airlock in the tap of the Garage that restricted water from coming out of it. Thus it was decided that if there was no water in the overhead tank then the tank would be filled by turning the water filling motor on. On the other hand if only the garage tap would

Electronic patient records (EPR) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Electronic patient records (EPR) - Essay Example It presents novel techniques of storing, controlling and conversing medical information of all kinds; those are more influential and flexible than paper base recording methods. It is the strategy of governments that seems to support a national healthcare infrastructure with a longitudinal patient record comprising a patients whole medical history from the birth to the death. At the same time, these advances increase a number of moral concerns. EPR may easily build a doctor-patient rapport through use of computerised notes, which the doctor and patient share. On the other hand, EPRs can damage the relationship and weaken faith. For instance, in the some developed countries there are medical data clearinghouses that trade medical patient information to insurance companies, police departments, employers, drug companies, and so on. As a result, patients are becoming unwilling to tell their doctors all about their medical conditions and the origin of them. Because of this doctor-patient r apport gets damaged and most crucially threatens to damage quality of care. Obviously, there is an anxiety and trade-off amid the need-to-know and the right to confidentiality that must be dealt with. Breach of medical confidentiality may seem to be easy for the reason that the competence of computerised systems. The harm to the patient whose confidentiality is dishonoured may be proportionately bigger as the quantity of information held within the EPR. But the merits comparing to the demerits are greater. The intention of this article is to trace the history of the efforts made by a Western industrialised nation to implement EPR, (b) to identify the benefits and issues arising, and (c) to reflect on the extent to which such an initiative is transferable to a developing country (Rogerson, 2000). The development in medical science is in step with the growth in various other fields, mainly the

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Management - Essay Example Managerial communication is the element of an organization or business that helps the managers of those organizations to communicate with each other, that is if there is more than one manager, as well as with the other employees within the organization.â€Å"Managers must be efficient and effective communicators in a fast-paced highly competitive environment.† (Hynes, Geraldine E, P18).If information is not shared, then it is of no use to the organization and will bring no benefit. In order to share this information, there has to be proper communication techniques that will help the individual members of an organization stay up to date with the latest on goings, events and developments. Good communication helps ease the transfer of valuable information between members of one party to members of another, otherwise known as the sender and the receiver. Managers of an organization that are working towards a common goal, are required to smooth out the flow of information by using effective managerial techniques. Managerial communication is divided into two sub categories, namely; interpersonal communication and organizational communication. Interpersonal communication is the communication or the transfer of information that takes place between two or more individuals at a workplace, whereas organizational communication is one that occurs at all levels of an organization. ... Understanding of a manager’s message is based on the receiver’s perception and message interpretation† (Larry R Smeltzer, Donald J. Leonard, 1994, p27). Many of these issues are related to decision making that turn out to be controversial and not too favorable for some of the subordinates. A controversial decision will incur anxiety and resistance, especially decisions that speak about any sort of change or alteration to the structure of the organization. Changing an organization’s goals for example, will definitely create uncertainty in groups, leading eventually to anxiety and protest. Although lying or half truths are sometimes spread for the benefit of the organization, the process of doing so can destroy the trust that an employee has built with the employer. Due to this, the employee will begin to question the employer’s sincerity and most probably seek a new job where the employer is someone he/she can trust. The employee might even tend to sp read the notion of the employer being insincere and this could be disastrous for the organization, potentially losing valuable employees. Another issue that arises in the management of an organization is caused when the realities of power are not recognized. If a manager is found to be really high in the organization’s hierarchal structure, it is possible for problems that occur in the organization, to reach that manager a little too late and also softened in nature so as to cause minimal blow. Every employee who passes on the problem ensures to reduce the degree of that problem. If the manager is unable to properly recognize the integrity of the situation, the problem might not be dealt with in the right way and may lead to undesirable consequences. In the same way, messages and information

Critically analyse the goverment initiative New Deal area of training Essay

Critically analyse the goverment initiative New Deal area of training and to assess where such an approach could be used within an organizational setting - Essay Example within the international market has to focus on the following issues: ‘a) the business structure, b) the legislative and employment relationship context, c) the patterns of HRM competence and decision-making and d) the national culture’ (Schuler et al., 1998, 159). In accordance with the above study human resources development has to be differentiated in each country worldwide in accordance with the local business ethics and the national culture; the potential of organizations to respond to the needs of the particular strategy (especially regarding its cost) has also to be considered as playing a role in the above differentiation. In order to measure the value of human resources development in organizations within the international market, it is necessary to refer to the particular elements of HRD as they can be observed in daily business activities worldwide. Regarding a particular aspect of HRD, training, it is suggested by Reid et al. (2004, 52) that ‘training i s an intervention into an ongoing learning process; the culture, philosophy, policies and procedures of the organisation form a very powerful learning environment, which must be taken into consideration’. In fact, organizations can choose among different HRD strategies when having to develop their employees’ skills. For this reason, Brown (1997, 15) noticed that ‘organizations can buy skills through hiring, or they can develop skills through training and development (T&D) activities’. Current paper refers to a particular aspect of HRD, this of training and especially to a relevant scheme implemented by the British government in order to support new employees in the medical sector. The scheme analyzed is ‘New Deal’, a programme of active labour market policies introduced in the United Kingdom by the Labour government in 1998 aiming to reduce unemployment by providing training, subsidised employment, and voluntary work to the unemployed’ (Wikipedia, 2007). The particular effort has

Emily's story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Emily's story - Essay Example I am Emily, Emily Rose. Not long ago, I was a cheerful, lively and agile young girl with many friends and a bunch of activities which could not fit in the 24 hours of the day. I was outgoing, blunt and always the centre of attention, when in a group. No wonder, I was approached by many people for friendships and relationships, but I always aimed higher than just being ‘another girl’ in the world. I wanted to be someone people admire and get inspiration from. I wanted to be like my father; an inspirational personality and a great journalist. Indeed, he was my hero and the role model. I always had a strong bond of love and affection with him. But I never thought I would be a reason for his broken pride and humiliation. It was mid February, when I went on a trip with my college mates. I always loved going on such trips and explore different parts of the world and the people around. But it was unusual; it was not uncomfortable or displeasing, but unusual. For the first time, I got attracted to a person, John, for his thoughts, views and manners inspired me. We got along really well and I felt special when he was around. Like any other girl, I developed feelings for him; he had no different feelings than me. The month passed giving us many memories, and a life changing news; the news that changed my life and his views; the news that replaced the old confident Emily with a girl who could not face the world; the news that broke the pride of his father and his trust on his daughter. Yes, I was pregnant. I still wonder if this was the same John who always picked my call on the first ring, I looked at the side table and picked my phone again. No, I was not calling John but my ever loving father this time. I needed him, like I always did since my childhood. As expected, no later than an hour, he was right in front of me listening to my story. This was