When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492 he was struck by the locals' indulgence in an unfamiliar habit. The Mayans had been smoking dried tobacco leaves since the first century B.C.E., and by the time the Spanish sailors discovered the New World the custom had spread throughout the continent. Possibly thinking their foreign visitors divine, the indigenous Arawaks offered Columbus and his men some of the leaves—who immediately threw them away. One member of the crew, Rodrigo de Jerez, was not as skeptical, though, and very soon he also "drank" the dried tobacco leaves wrapped in palm or maize, thus becoming the first European smoker. Back home, his newly acquired habit frightened his compatriots so much that the Inquisition put him in jail. Over the next few centuries the practice gradually spread all over the world, but to a mixed reception. Initially European doctors praised its medicinal properties—the more...

'"Australian antigen' was the Rosetta stone for unraveling the nature of the hepatitis viruses." Robert H. Purcell, National Institute of Health There are few people who can be said to have saved the lives of millions, but American scientist Dr. Baruch Blumberg (b. 1925) is one of them. In the 1960s he and his colleagues were screening aboriginal blood for diseases when they found a rare protein. They named it the "Australian antigen" and investigated whether it also occurred elsewhere in the world. It turned out to be uncommon in Americans but much more prevalent in Asians, Africans, and some Europeans. They discovered it-was also found in leukemia sufferers who were receiving regular blood transfusions. Further population studies pointed to the antigen being part of a relatively unknown virus that caused a particularly virulent form of hepatitis—hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is a serious disease that attacks the liver causing cirrhosis more...

The discovery of the properties of ether as an anesthetic was one of the major breakthroughs for the medical profession. Until then, patients undergoing surgery had to rely on hypnotism or alcohol. American Crawford Long (1815-1878) is reputed to have first discovered the effects of ether when attending "laughing gas" parties and "ether frolics" during his years at medical school. There he noticed that those under the influence of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or ether were unaware of pain through knocks and falls, until the effect had worn off. Long established his rural practice in Jefferson, Georgia, and began to experiment with sulfuric ether as an anesthetic. The first procedure in which he used ether was an operation on March 30,1842, to remove a tumor from a young man's neck; after the surgery the patient could not believe that it had been done. Long then began to use ether for more...

"How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?" Author unknown The development of the safety match in 1844 by the Swedish chemistry professor Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788- 1862) followed the invention of the friction match. Pasch replaced the dangerous white phosphorus in the flammable mixture coating the match head with nontoxic red phosphorus, which was far. Less flammable. He also removed the phosphorus from the mixture at the head of the match and added it to a specially prepared striking surface. The striking surface was made from red phosphorus and powdered glass, leaving a composition of antimony(lll) sulfide and potassium chlorate on the match head. Some of the red phosphorus was converted to white by friction heat as the match was struck. The small amount of white phosphorus then ignites, starting the combustion of the match. more...

I was going to Faizabad with my father. I expressed my desire to see he zoo at Lucknow on the way. He agreed and we got down at Lucknow. After taking our bath and heavy refreshment we hired a tonga and reached the zoo. We bought our tickets and entered the zoo.  As we entered the compound, we saw a small house surrounded by a wire net. Inside it, we saw a number of snakes of all the sizes and colours. For the first time in my life, I saw a grey snake as thin as the small finger. There were snakes called pythons. They seemed to be two or three quintals heavy. Then we saw a tank full of all kinds of coloured fish. They were leaping about and swimming beautifully in the clear water. In another tank we saw a small hill and rocks on which a crocodile more...

An Indian juggler is a common man. He goes from village to village and from town to town. He is an entertainer in the life of Indians; at times he is also seen in the cities entertaining a crowd along the road. He has no fixed place where he can live. He moves from place to place. You cannot see him with his wife and children. He stays in a village or town for two or three days. Then he leaves for some other place. Generally he continues his tour within a district only. Sometimes he visits other districts also. His appearance and dress are quite peculiar. He ties a big turban on his head. He keeps a beard. A kurta with long broad sleeves, a fat bag on his shoulder which has many things give him a peculiar appearance. He is generally tall. His face shows that he is more...

Buttons have been attached to clothing for around 5,000 years, but our Bronze Age ancestors used them more for ornamentation than for their potential as a fastener. In their early incarnations, buttons were simply added to clothes for decoration, while the clothes were fastened by pins and belts. The buttons were usually hand-carved from bone, wood, or horn. It was the Greeks who first came up with the idea of using buttons to fasten clothes. The first "buttonhole" was simply a loop of thread through which a button could be passed to create a fastening. However, buttons were not adopted in Europe until the return of the Crusaders in the thirteenth century. The introduction of this new fastening coincided with a new trend for "form-fitted" clothing and its popularity soared. By 1250, the French had established the Button Makers' Guild. In fact, the word "button" probably derives from the French more...

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India is the second most densely populated country in the world after China. Our population is continuing to grow at a very fast rate. Progress made in the field of medical science has contributed to the decline in the death rate. But we  have not been able to check the birth rate. As a result there is  tremendous increase in population. This kind of growth has a  direct effect on the development of our country. It prevent  the benefits of economic development from reaching all the people because development cannot keep pace with tin demands of large population. It becomes hard to provide education, decent jobs and a reasonable standard of living to  everyone. In such circumstances, it is essential to keep the population under control by lowering down the birth rate. How can we -lower down the birth rate ? It is undoubtedly family planning which can do a more...