My Science School

          Throughout the human history, man has shown a penchant for displaying his physical strength and prowess. For many prehistoric tribes, the true test of manhood was to lift some special rock. Many such stones, with inscriptions of the athlete’s names that first lifted them, can still be found in Greece and Scottish castles. Stone-throwing competitions still survive in Germany and Switzerland, and rock lifting is still popular in the Basque region of Spain.

          The modern weightlifting began in the late 18th and 19th centuries, fostered by the feats of professional strongmen such as Eugene Sandow and Arthu Saxon of Germany, George Hackenschmidt of Russia, Louis Apollon of France and others who performed in circuses and music halls.

          The first open world championship was held at the Cafe Monico, Piccadilly, London in 1891 and won by the Englishman Lawrence Levy. Two weightlifting competitions were included in the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The winner of the one hand lift competition was Launceston Elliot of Great Britain who lifted a 71 kg weight. And the winner of the two hand lift competition was Viggo Jensen of Denmark who lifted 111 kg weight.

          The one and two-hand events were held again in 1904 and then in 1920. However, later at the suggestion of the International Olympic Committee, the International Weightlifting Federation was formed to control the sport and to formulate its technical rules. Since then weightlifting has been included in the Olympic Games. The International Federation originally included 14 member countries, but in the mid 1970s this number rose to 100. France and Germany were the leaders in this sport up to 1930s. But then Egypt took over as the leader. After the World War II U.S.A. remained supreme in this sport until 1953. Since then erstwhile Soviet Union created most of the world records in this event.

          The modern weightlifting device consists of an iron bar to which weights, in the form of cast iron discs, of different sizes are attached. The weights are attached to each end of the bar on a revolving sleeve. The individual weights include discs of 25 kg, 15 kg, 10 kg, 5 kg, 2.5 kg, and 1.25 kg. The lifting exercises are performed on a wooden platform, 4 mts square. And if the lifter steps off this platform during the course of a lift, that lift is considered disqualified and not counted in the score.

 

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The roots of modern fencing can be traced to the historical traditions of swordsmanship. In the olden days, swordsmanship was considered to be a great martial art and provided a high social status to the warrior. But the modern fencing is a friendly competitive duel and not meant for fighting battles as was the case in old days.

It is now a sport involving the skilful use of swords for attack or defence according to the set rules and regulations. In France it is called Escrime and in Italy Schoma. It has a long and fascinating history, and its roots can be traced to the traditions of chivalry. The sport has been a permanent feature of every Olympic Games ever since their revival in Athens in 1896, and today it is increasingly practiced throughout the world.

Fencing is divided into three major branches depending upon the weapons employed. The three different types of weapons used are: foils, sabres and epees. The fencer scores point by touching the opponent’s target area with the sword point, and loses when touched the same way by the opponent.

Some of the main advantages of this sport are that it provides concentrated physical exercise in a short duration of time, independent of weather and without much expenditure. It develops a co-ordination of mind and body. It is a game of skill, speed and finesse in which brute strength doesn’t have much role to play. It is suitable for both men and women. It is a complex and difficult art to master.

The fencing equipment is relatively inexpensive. This requires a fencing jacket, a mask, a glove, a foil or any other such weapon with trousers or fencing breeches, white stockings and rubber sole gym shoes or flat sole fencing shoes.

The fencer’s weapon consists of a blade and mounting. The stronger half of the blade, which is nearer to the guard, is called the forte and the remainder, the foible. The mounting consists of a guard, the form of which varies according to the weapon and within which there is often a small cushion to protect the fingers. It has a handle or grip with which the weapon is held and manipulated. 

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            It is an indoor game played on a table with a lightweight ball. The table is divided into two equal courts by a low net fixed across its width at the middle. The ball is made of celluloid or a similar plastic. It is propelled back and forth across the net by small rackets (also called bats or paddles) held by the players. The objective is to win points by making shots which an opponent is unable to return.

            Over the years it has become a popular game all over the world, especially, in Europe and Asia. The International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926. The founder members were England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Wales. By the 1970s, more than 90 national associations were members of the federation and there were six continental federations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania. The first world championships were held in London in 1927 and from then until 1939 the game was dominated by players from the central Europe. Hungary and Czechoslovakia produced some of the greatest players of the game. However, by the mid 50s Asia began to gain supremacy. In 1954-56 the Asians became the champions. 

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            Hang gliding is a popular American sport today. A hang glider looks something like a huge kite. It is shaped like a triangle. At its widest point, a glider is about as wide as the length of a car. The flier wears a harness attached to a glider. He holds onto the glider and races down a hill into the wind or else jumps off a cliff. The wind lifts the glider into the air. The pilot uses a control bar to change the directions. A hang glider is made with Dacron sails and aluminium frames. Some other gliders are made from rigid materials such as wood and glass fiber.

            A hang glider usually travels as fast as a car on a busy street. A person learning to hang glide usually flies 3 to 6 metres above the earth. A trained pilot might go much higher. They sometimes carry equipments like maps, compasses, parachutes, radios etc. Pilots flying over mountainous areas often carry oxygen. The hang gliders never fly as high as airplanes.

            Though many people have contributed to the development of the glider, the pioneer was a German, Otto Lilienthal (1848-96). Along with his brother Gustav, he began experimenting in this direction in 1867 on the buoyancy and resistance of air. After a lot of experiments he succeeded in 1891 in making his first man-carrying craft, with which he could take off by running downhill into the wind. He made numerous flights between 1893 and 1896.

            This was the beginning after which many developments were made in the design of gliders by Octave Chanute — a French-born American Engineer, Orville and Wilbur Wright etc. In the 1950s Professor Francis Rogallo of the National Space Agency, USA, relying on his space capsule re-entry researches, developed a wing.

            In the case of most of the early gliders the flying speed was very low. The normal practice was to fly into a wind so that the actual acceleration required was not too much. These days the favoured launching techniques are the airplane tow and automobile tow. The tow rope is usually 60 metres long with a steel ring attached at each end, fitting the tow hooks with the towing vehicle and the glider.

            Many records of long distance gliding and of greatest altitude gliding have been set in the world. Heights of 10,000 ft have been attained by some hang gliding pilots flying in mountainous areas. Since 1935 hang gliding has earned a reputation as tools for aeronautical and meteorological research. 

                Since its inception cinema has always been a popular source of entertainment, particularly after the beginning of the era of talkies. Due to the wide acceptance and popularity of this medium, the world of cinema has always produced its own breed of celebrities and stars that are always remembered, cherished and indexed in the chronicle of the cinema world. Besides their talent, the glamourous screen image they produce creates a mass euphoria among the audience. Marilyn Monroe, the legendary actress of yesteryears of occidental cinema, was one such star whose name still stirs the popular memory. Her magnetic personality, both on and off the screen, made her a great newsmaker of those days.

               Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 1, 1926. Her original name was Norma Jean Baker. She had a very unhappy childhood, engulfed by miseries and hardships. She spent her childhood days in foster homes and orphanages. Later she became a model and subsequently got bit roles in motion pictures.

               To begin with her film career, she was first featured as a ‘dumb blonde’ and later as a symbol of glamour and passion, though with an appealing wholesomeness and vulnerability. In 1952 and 1953 she attained stardom when she played waiflike characters in films like ‘Don’t bother to knock’ etc. Her real achievement came in 1953 for her attractive role in a film titled ‘Gentlemen prefer blondes’. Thereafter a series of box office hits followed with the release of films like ‘How to marry a millionaire’, ‘The seven year itch’, ‘Bus stop’ and so on.

               Ambitious to be a serious actress, Marilyn studied at the Actor’s studio in New York City. In spite of her professional successes she was a very disturbed person due to her deep-seated anxieties and the three broken marriages. Her last leg of life was full of tension and mental agony. Ultimately she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in Los Angeles on August 5, 1962. Thus the life and career of a great American film artist met an abrupt and tragic end. Her scarred and insecure life claimed as much attention as her glamourous acting career.

 

            The Beatles were the most successful of all the groups in the world of popular music. The group of four musicians comprising of John Lenon, Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr became famous in the 1960s. Their early years were mostly spent in Liverpool and Hamburg. Among them, Ringo Starr (whose real name was Richard Starkey) joined the group at a later stage.

            In fact this group became most successful in 1962 with their song titled “Love Me Do” followed by another bigger hit “Please Please Me” in 1963. They never looked back for several years after that. The new wave of popular songs generated a hilarious effect among the young generation all over the world, particularly during 1963-65. Rock ‘n’ roll, a pop music with rhythmic body movements on the beat of drums, were greatly influenced by Beatles’ songs.

         

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