Magyar News, 2004. szeptember-2005. augusztus (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-11-01 / 3. szám
SEGNER WHEEL A “thank you” belated two and a half centuries János András Segner Open your beloved, time and mess saving dishwasher. Pull out the bottom basket and you see four tubes coming out of a hub. There are holes on the top part of the tubes, the ones closer to the end seem to be a bit crooked. These tubes when in use spin around and you will find it interesting that there is no electricity to move them. They freely move, just by the preasure of the water. Those crooked holes are designed that way so the water flows out in an angle and pushes the contraption around like a wheel. This is called the Segner Wheel. It is very versatile, it works on The theater in Pozsony shows an image of the old city water, air, gasses, in your dishwasher, motors, airplanes, - my goodnes, who would have thought of it. Let’s see who gave this simple and fantastic invention to the world. Your guess is right - a Hungarian. János András Segner was bom 9 Oct 1704 in Pozsony, in the then capital of Hungary. He died in 1777, in Halle, Prussia. He spent about 25 years of his life in Hungary, then he spent most of his The Segner Wheel as you see it today in your dishwasher career in Germany. Segner attended school at Pozsony's Lyceum where he showed special talents for medicine and mathematics. He also attended school in Győr and, while it is not completely certain, it does seem highly probable that he spent the year 1724 at the College in Debrecen. In 1725 he went to Germany and entered the University of Jena, studying medicine there. He qualified as a medical doctor in 1729 and, in the following year, he was employed as a doctor in Debrecen. He did not find being a doctor of medicine to his liking and, after spending eighteen months in the job at Debrecen, he returned to the academic world at the University of Jena to take a Master's Degree. In Germany his interest in Hungarian affairs never diminished, and Hungarians visiting Germany were always welcome in his home. He was offered a post at the university. Segner's was the first to fill what was to become one of the foremost chairs of mathematics in the world. He was in charge of the construction of the university observatory which was finished in 1751. Segner was quite a bussy man. He used a theoretical work on the 'reaction effect' to produce a horizontal waterwheel. Segner's wheel established the basic principles on which the jet turbine was developed decades later. It works on the principle of a stream of water coming out of a cylinder which at its lowest part has several horizontal paddles bent in one direction. The water streaming through the paddles produces a counter-pressure able to turn the cylinder in the opposite direction. Segner was a scientist and an inventor. Here are some areas that we really do not A few weeks ago the first tests of the 2nd block of the Paks nuclear power station were started and now the reactor can work with an output which can be connected with the national electricity network, Magyar Nemzet has been informed. The Paks Nuclear Power Station so far, however, has not issued any official information about the restart, this will be done probably when Béla Túri-Kovács MP (Fidesz), chairman of the parliamentary want to get into: surface tension of liquids and description of capillary action, the theory of spinning tops. His textbooks made him highly popular. The proofs of several theorems of algebra and geometry have been adopted by subsequent textbooks and some of his Latin and German technical terms are still in use in most languages in verbatim translation. He left Göttingen in 1755 and, with Euler's assistance, became professor at Halle where he lectured on mathematics, physics and medicine. He continued to write good textbooks and in Halle, as in Göttingen, he established an observatory. Segner received many honours for his work. He was made a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the Berlin Academy and the Royal Society in London. Recently he has been honoured with a crater on the Moon being named after him. Thanks for this information to J.J. O’Connor We are happy that a Hungarian made our present day life a little bit easier. And if we look up into the sky and see an airplane flying by, we should have a proud thought. committee of environment protection makes a visit there. Gyula Fichtinger, deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Office said the 2nd reactor reached the minimal level of output on Thursday and the physical measurements were positive. According to the tests the reactor functioned in a normal way and now the level of output can be raised to 30 pc and the reactor can produce electric energy again. “Powerful” information from Magyar Nemzet Page 7
