Tawny Claire A.

Labos November 20, 2018

BSSW 1 – A

I.

For me, the three major scientific and technological development that made a huge
impact in my life are the following:

1. The Evolution of Air Conditioning

2. The Development of Cars
3. The Advancement of Washing Machine

The mentioned scientific and technological development are important to me because

as a student, I use these things in my daily life. Being in a tropical country, I cannot sleep
without turning on my air condition every night. I cannot travel to other places with a rusty
car. I cannot wash tons of laundry without a washing machine. I utilized all of these in my
everyday life. Living without these advancements today is very hard for me especially
when it became a part of my everyday norm.

II.
a. The Timeline of the Evolution of Air Conditioning

For cooling people tried almost everything from draping wet mats in doorways to
the installing of water powered fans. But nothing succeeded in beating the hot and
moist air.

1758: Benjamin Franklin invented that all liquids when evaporated has cooling effects.
This was pioneer step towards invention of cooling devices.

1830: Dr. John Gorrie invented an ice-making machine at Florida hospital. This
machine makes use of compression to ice buckets and then blows air over them. He
wanted to extend this idea by constructing cooling buildings all over the world, but he
couldn’t.
1881: A naval engineer build the box-like structure having clothes saturated with
melted ice water and fan blew air outside. He builds this box to save the President
James Garfield.

1882: Thomas 1882 opened the first power plant opens in New York City, which
supplied electricity to residential and commercial buildings.

1902: Willis Carrier invented the first ever AC to fight with the humidity inside a printing
company. Then Carrier opened the Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America to
produce the air conditioning units for other factories.

1906: Stuart Cramer discovered the ventilating device which provides water vapor to
the air of textile plants. This action spins yarn easily. Stuart Cramer named this
process air conditioning.

1914: Charles Gates made air conditioning devices available to homeowners.

1931: J.Q. Sherman and H.H. Schultz invented individual room air conditioner, which
were installed in windows.

1950: Post World War II, residential AC became available at reasonable rates.

2003: Modern air conditioners became available

b. The Timeline of the Development of Cars

1896 – The Duryea brothers start the first American car manufacturing company in
Springfield, Massachusetts. It is called Motor Wagons.

1900- A steering wheel is designed to replace the steering tiller.

1906 – Alabama sets a state maximum speed limit of 8 miles per hour.

1913 – Ford’s Model T production rockets from 7.5 cars per hour to 146 cars per hour,
thanks to the utilization of the assembly line.

1924 – The car radio is introduced.

1940 – The first four-wheel drive, all-purpose vehicle is designed for the U.S. Military.
It becomes known as the Jeep.

1956 – The Interstate Highway Act creates a network of highways which connects all
parts of the United States.

1962 – Wisconsin becomes the first state to create a seat belt law. It calls for the
seatbelt to be a standard requirement in automobiles.

1974 – Air bags become a new car safety option.

1984 – New York state becomes the first state with a la1w requiring the use of
seatbelts.

1995 – The car Global Positioning System, or GPS, is introduced.

1996 – Due to the rising cost of gasoline and impact of global climate change, zero-
emission electric vehicles come back to auto showrooms. The first electric vehicles
had been designed in the early 1800s.

1997 – The first Toyota Prius is sold in Japan.

Late 2000s – Many vehicle manufacturers begin to abandon once popular gas-
guzzling SUVs for more efficient vehicles due to environmental concerns and the
recession.

c. The Timeline of the Advancement of Washing Machine

1901 - An American engineer, Alva John Fisher, is generally considered to be the

inventor of the first electric machine. But at least one patent was filed before his, for a
model electric machine. However, the identity of the inventor remains unknown to this
day. Wooden tanks were replaced by metal ones.

1907
The Hurley Electric Laundry Equipment Company launched “Thor”, the first electric
washing machine to go on the market using the Alva J. Fisher prototype (patented in
1910): the drum was powered by an electric motor. On the early models, this engine
was not watertight and short-circuits occurred frequently: the machine was therefore
potentially dangerous. In addition, the machine did not wring out the linen.

1908

Joe Barlow and John Seeling founded Barlow & Seeling Manufacturing, later Speed
Queen, today world leader in industrial laundry and laundromats, recognized for the
amazing durability of its professional washing machines.

1911Efficiency improvement for washing machines

Barlow & Seeling Manufacturing improved the electric washing machine, making it
safer and more efficient, and then began selling its own model.

1915

Speed Queen introduced on the market the first multidirectional wringer.

1920

Electric motors became waterproof and two-speed: slow for washing, faster for
spinning. Put on show at the Paris Fair, this washing machine excited strong interest.
1927

The first machine with spin function incorporated was born. Sales of electric washing
machines soon reached 913000 units in the United States.

1929

The first washing machines went on the French market: they had the spin function
incorporated.

1937

Working for the Bendix Aviation Corporation, American John Chamberlain invented a
multifunctional machine which could wash, rinse and spin in a single cycle. A patent
was filed the same year for this model, which is considered the first automatic washing
machine.

1940

Of the 25000 000 US homes connected to the electricity grid, 60% had an electric
washing machine and most of these households also had an electric wringer.

1941Evolution of washing machines

To support the war effort, Speed Queen interrupted production of professional
washing machines. The USA did, however, allow manufacturers to continue their
research and development activities on machine automation.

The spread of the automatic washing machine

Automatic washing machines perform all washing operations without any manual
intervention:

A programmer starts up the machine

A pressure switch and a solenoid valve cut off the water supply when the tank has
filled up.

A thermostat controls the temperature

A timer controls the operating time.

But automatic washing machines, still an innovation in the early 50s, were expensive
and, to begin with, were mostly restricted to laundromats. Very few households were
able to afford them. Laundromats grew in number across all major US and European
cities during the 50s and 60s.

Models continued to improve, integrating centrifugal force to wring the laundry and
incorporating programed washing cycles (a washing program for each type of laundry;
the wool cycle only arrived in 1997).

The 1960s Washing machines features evolution

 Different brands of washing machine began advertising their products. In 1967, 44%
of French households had a washing machine. 10 years later, 74% of French
households had one.

The 1980s

From the 80s onwards, machines contained miniaturized, electronic components

(microprocessors, RAM …) and consumed less and less water and electricity, in an
attempt to conserve the environment.

Washing machines today

Nowadays washing machines offer dozens of wash cycles and water levels,
programmable before or during washing. Speed Queen professional washing
machines – for industrial laundries (hotels, hospitals, communal residences …) and
laundromats – are at the forefront in terms of performance.

These machines reduce daily consumption of water and energy, preserve the qualities
of the laundry which they wash in record time thanks to G force spin speed.

III.

My chosen developments will surely flourish in the coming years. As long as its
innovators will continue addressing the needs of the people in this generation and in the
future generations, surely these developments will continue on being successful. We are
living in a growing society. If the innovators of my chosen developments won’t keep up
with the society, then the future may be dark to them. It would be better if air condition
companies continue on upgrading their products’ specs especially its cooling quality. It
would be better if car companies revert into using renewable energy. If possible, shifting
its energy source from gasoline to hydro-energy since we are living in a place surrounded
by bodies of water. This is also a need especially in reducing global warming since some
transportation contributes a large amount of polluted gas emissions. Lastly, it would be
better if washing machine will enhance on its washing quality and if possible, a portable
washing machine should be created.