Alchemy vs Chemistry Essay

Some people think that chemistry is just about mixing things up and experimenting in test tubes and explosions. Actually chemistry studies everything around us and how they change, for example it tells what your body is made out of. We study chemistry in biology, geology, engineering, and even physics. Chemistry is the science of matter, and how it changes and its chemical reactions, it’s also called as the central science ( the main one) because it connects physics with other sciences. Chemistry is important because it explains the world around you, it explains how food changes when you cook it and how it rots. Chemical reactions occur when you breathe, eat, or even setting down watching the T.V. Chemistry was discovered by a Greek man called Leucippus in the fifth century BC. He came up with the idea that the world was made up of atoms or voids. His student Democritus further refined this idea of the atom and improver the theory so it can make more sense. On the other hand m any people did not believe in chemistry and Democritus’ theory. Alchemy, it’s a form of chemistry that was studied in the middle ages, which was concentrating about trying to change a normal metal into gold. It’s the power to change or create things in a way which seems mysterious and magical. It also involves the discovery of panacea, and the proportions of the elixir of immortality and living forever. Aristotle was another Greek philosopher who had a completely different theory than the one with the atoms. He though that all matters are made up of four elements and they are: Air, Fire, Water and Earth. By physically manipulating the proportions of the elements, matter can be changed from one to another. This idea was known as transmutation, and the main goal of it is to transfer ordinary metal into gold. Aristotle did not have a proof for his theory However, because he was trusted and respected this idea has been for 2000 years even though they were wrong, and still until now there are some people who believe in alchemy and alchemists still exist. Some people think that chemistry and alchemy are the same, but they are different in many ways. First of all, alchemy rely a lot on the spiritual connections to the four elements and they are fire, water, earth and air while chemistry is a lot more logical, factual and scientific based. Second of all, chemistry is considered as science, while alchemy is not. Third of all, chemistry is more famous than alchemy and it’s a part of our modern society and we are used to it. Finally, chemistry makes more sense than alchemy and it does not risk our lives looking for the elixir like alchemy. Chemistry and alchemy does not only have differen ces, they also have some similarities. First of all, they all began as alchemy in the seventeenth century in the medieval Europe. Second of all, the both involve the natural elements which are now arranged on a periodic table. Third of all, they were both considered as science back then because people didn’t know who is right and who is wrong so they used them both as science. Finally, back in time the churches were against both of them because they thought that they used magic and proportions which what they are totally against.

King Leopold’s Ghost

The subtitle of King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild reads more like an ad for a current spy movie than a history occurring in the Congo in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Hochschild writes about the conditions in the Belgian Congo, approximately modern day Zaire, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.This is the story of the transformation of a country from a colony greatly abused and used by the policies of King Leopold II of Belgium. Forced labor, stripping of natural resources were common. King Leopold's Ghost is the story of the terror that occurred because of King Leopold's greed and of the affects felt many years after his death. It is the story of honorable men such as, Edmund Dene Morel, an English business man from Liverpool and George Washington Williams, an American African American who had served the Union during the Civil war and had fought against Emperor Maximilian (brother-in-law of Leopold II) before beginning work in journalism. It is the story of these men and others and their efforts to mobilize the world against the abuses in the Belgian Congo (Hochschild 1-5, 101-103).Adam Hochschild has a long distinguished career as a journalist and writer. He has published a wide variety of books and articles, some also dealing with social political history in Africa such as King Leopold's Ghost and The Mirror at Midnight that deals with apartheid in South Africa in the mid-1800s. In Bury the Chains Hochschild writes of the attempts to bring slavery to an end in eighteenth century throughout Europe and the Americas.According to his publisher, Houghton Mifflin, King Leopold's Ghost was a finalist for the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Awards. He has written for a variety of magazines Ramparts, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker Magazine among others. Currently he teaches narrative writing at University of California at Berkeley gradua te school. Hochschild's writing style is a combination of journalism, historical, and at times travel writing. It fits nicely into the niche commonly called new journalism or creative non-fiction. His work reads well and, although disturbing, is engaging and important to read.Hochschild begins his book with a brief history of the development of the slave trade beginning in the mid to late fifteenth century. Portuguese exploration led to the discovery of the Congo River in 1482. This marked the first sustained contact between Europeans and the African nation the Kingdom of the Kongo.Hochschild points out that slavery had been practiced within the African Continent before but when the Europeans arrived the â€Å"institution† dramatically changed, â€Å". . . when Europeans showed up ready to buy endless shiploads of slaves, they found African chiefs willing to sell† (Hochschild 10). As exploration of the Western Hemisphere grew and more land came under European dominance a need for a large market for laborers in mining, on sugar and coffee plantations. Consequently the slave trade flourished (Hochschild 6-16).Hochschild presents an interesting account of the relationship between Leopold II and Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley was a Welshman, masquerading as an American, journalist working throughout the United States. Stanley had served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil war. On the second day of the Battle of Shiloh Stanley was captured by Union soldiers and sent to what later became known as a notorious Union POW camp just outside of Chicago. Stanley showed his ability to land on his feet and make the best of any situation by enlisting in the Union army to obtain his freedom. His army career was short-lived when he received a medical discharge because he suffered from dysentery (pun enjoyed, but unintended).After working at sea, Stanley enlisted in the Union Navy where he worked as a clerk on the Minnesota. In early 1865 Stanley deser ts the navy and begins writing journalism about the American West. Soon he was hired by the New York Herald and sent to Africa to cover the war in Suez. From there he joined a variety of journalists writing dispatches from Africa. He traveled the Nile, found international fame when he found Dr. Livingstone and came under the influence of Leopold II (Hochschild 21-60). Leopold contracted with Stanley for five years at the rate of 25,000 francs per year for time and 50,000 francs for time spent in Africa (each franc is about $5 in current funds). Stanley was to head expeditionary forces that would look for resources such as ivory that could be sold in Europe.From this point Hochschild writes about the increase of Belgian influence in the Congo along with increased funneling of Congolese natural resources into Leopold's treasury and increased violence. At the same time Morel and Williams increased their efforts to inform the world of conditions in the Congo. Their efforts were successf ul as organizations throughout the western world began to lend their support to the effort. As the story of events in the Congo became better known, people such as Stanley tried to distance themselves from Leopold II and his past.In chapter 15 â€Å"A Reckoning† Hochschild summarizes the horror under Leopold's reign. Although not technically â€Å"genocide† as it was not a deliberate, sanctioned attempt to eliminate a particular ethnic group, the effects were of such proportion. Hochschild attributes the large number of deaths to four sources: murder, starvation, disease, and a â€Å"plummeting† birth rate† (226). Force Publique soldiers were known to kill everyone they could find when a district failed to produce its quota of rubber. According to Hochschild â€Å"the list of specific massacres on record goes on and on† (226-228).As the terror increased thousands of people fled from their villages. The French government estimated that at least 30,00 0 entered French controlled countries. Others fled to the English controlled Northern Rhodesia. Along the way many died due to starvation and exposure. According to one Presbyterian missionary, there were at least 40,000 refugees living in the forests without shelter within a seventy-five mile radius of Luebo (Hochschild 229-230). Hochschild points out the far more people died of disease in the area during this period than by being shot. Smallpox was endemic; sleeping sickness (caused by the bite of the pink-striped tse-tse fly) killed an estimated 500,000 in 1900 alone (Hochschild 230-231).Due to the forced labor where men were sent to work camps for weeks at a time the number of children born decreased alarmingly. A visitor in 1910 reported a distinct absence of children between the ages of seven and fourteen; this corresponds exactly with the height of the rubber harvesting.   According to estimates Hochschild writes that the population of the Congo had decreased by half betwee n 1880 and 1920. A 1924 estimate of the population was ten million. This indicates ten million people died or fled the country during this period without being replaced by new births or immigration (Hochschild 231-233).Unfortunately, as history expands its areas of specialization from the traditional all-white, male dominated governmental emphasis into the more marginalized people it becomes apparent that throughout world history genocide has been a much more common phenomenon than previously believed. This is a very good book that should be read by more people. The number of people killed is shocking. It would be nice to think such things only happened in the past; unfortunately events in Somalia, Rwanda and throughout the Middle East indicate this is not the case. It is to be hoped that such events are never forgotten nor repeated.Works CitedHochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, A Mariner Book, 1999. â€Å"Adam Hochschild.† 2007. Houghton Mifflin Company. 27 Feb. 2007 ;http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/authordetail.cfm?authorID=2188;.

British Company Woolworth And Causes Of Its Failure Marketing Essay

British Company Woolworth And Causes Of Its Failure Marketing Essay The British Company, Woolworths is normally categorized as a variety store dealing in retailing of a range of varying products. Historically it was established as a subsidiary of an American Company F.W. Woolworth &Co, in 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth It was incorporated in England on 23rd July, 1909 as private limited company with initial capital of 50,250 pound sterling. It, first time floated a new idea of selling all the products at a cost not more than five cents. This idea gained popularity amongst the customers resulting in fast growth of the subsidiary. Its first shop at Liverpool attracted about 60,000 people in first two days because of attractive one penny, three penny and six penny products put at sale. It continued to open new shops at various cities that attracted heavy rush of customers and visitors. It was company’s policy to purchase the products directly from manufacturers, who also were very happy due to momentum in their business as well. Some of the ma nufacturers started doing business solely with the Woolworths and labeled their products with the company’s name. Company’s business grew day by day and it had 31 shops in United Kingdoms by the year, 1914. Due to inflationary trends after the World War II, the company had to do away with its three pence and six pence price limits. It introduced self service first time in its retail side in the year 1955. Woolworth opened about 190 self-service stores by the year 1970. It created new division in the stores by establishing Woolco departmental stores in the year 1966. These stores had full range of quality products like, clothes, groceries, car service and restaurants etc. available at affordable prices. (WGP 2007: Fu 2007) The Company continued to flourish very fast because of its stated aim to remain at the customer’s heart and best kid’s retailer till 1966. But thereafter its sales as well as profits started falling because of its competitors, Marks & Sp encer who overtook its sales as well as profits. The results of the company were the worst in the year 1969, because it failed to chalk out suitable strategies necessary to take on its competitors in the market. Sales at Woolworth began to decline. Consumers were reportedly not satisfied with the quality of customer services of the company. Many of the business sites were not at prime locations. Its new products could not attract the customers because of lack of well trained staff and availability of ‘A class service’. The company tried to improve its services in the year 1971 by introducing new system of centralized payments besides closing its 23 unprofitable shops, as an attempt to trade up. The profits of the company increased to some extent as a result of these measures but it failed to boost up its profits at the desired level. (WGP 2007: Peston 2008) The competitors of Woolworth like Wal-Mart, Argos and Next very soon became more prevalent in the market because o f low prices, better service and vast range of their products. The Management of the company ultimately decided to sellout the Woolco stores in 1977. In the year 1981 it sold-out some of its valuable prime located properties to cover-up the losses suffered by the shops situated at these locations. Even then its profits went down in the said year and the company was forced to cut the dividends first time since its establishment. In the normal restructuring process during the year 1985, the company decided to abandon the sale of food and adult clothing that was contributing about 30% of its overall sales. The Management of the company sold out its 200 unprofitable shops out of about 990, during the years 1982-1991. During this decade company made a number of acquisitions in order to become more diversified in retail business. It launched Music and Video Club that specialized in CDs, videos and other entertainment products. The company succeeded in boosting its sales and turnover durin g 1990s and gave impressive results despite the fact that some of major chains like Wilkinson expanded their business in the Woolworth areas. (FRANCE 2008)

Mix design report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mix design report - Essay Example The education at the high school level is a strength that can translate to economic boost since there is about 90% of the populations aged 25years and above with this basic education. This is a true since when majority of natives have basic education they are keen and understands the work they do hence quality services Another strength that the city of London enjoys is that few people (8%) leave below poverty index. There is promise that this figure could go down due to the presence of royal opera house which creates job to many young people. The figure is also smaller nationally. The poverty index used here was an index of 1.5. Another weakness is seen in marginalization and gender disparity. Although the ratio between women to men is almost 1:1, women are restricted in owning farms and occupying leadership positions. The data under London county was suppressed implying that there were confidentially with the data for public access which is a weakness The increase in population is a weakness to the government .This is because the government should put up measures to curb the ever rising rate of population. The more the population the more burdensome and budgetary constraints to the government. The priority for the government is to create more resources for development and infrastructural alignment. Comparatively, the population keeps rising from 2000 upto 2003 projection. The manufacturer’s shipment stands at about $300Million. This although still below the expected level of industrialization, it offers the opportunity for more shipments and revenue generation for the states. This is also seen as a pointer towards creation of jobs for the young people. It is also seen as an opportunity to increase the bilateral trades and ties with the regional and counterparts countries The number of retail sales also offers the opportunity for business and trade. It can be seen that the number of retails sales significantly

Policy making in the federal system Research Paper

Policy making in the federal system - Research Paper Example roads and bridges), and preventing accidents. States will determine their own objectives for enhancing cargo transfers, reducing blockage, modernizing infrastructures, and ensuring safety. MAP-21 incorporates a number of conditions to cut down costs and expedite project delivery time (n.a., 2012, 1). This essay analyzes how MAP-21 raises the issue about the conflict between state (local) and federal governments, its pros and cons, its effectiveness as a policy, and its consistency with the constitutional framework of American federalism. When the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) concluded in 2009 the Congress agreed to draft another transportation proposal. The Senate successfully submitted a thoroughly drafted proposal—MAP-21. This Act was a major bipartisan program (Dilger, 2012, 1). Even though federal authority over surface transportation policy is still important, MAP-21 characterizes an extension of earlier focus of reauthorization on enlarging the state administrations’ executive power. For instance, the policy grants state governments more freedom in the utilization of federal highway support. It also grants states more freedom by increasing the projects entitled to resources reserved for non-highway associated improvements, like historic conservation, renovation of rails, and environmental protection. State governments were also given greater privilege to shift a percentage of those resources, within given conditions, to other fe deral safety and highway projects (CMAP Updates, 2012, para 4-5). However, some argue that the federal government has an obligation to make sure that federal resources are spent in the most resourceful and valuable way to advance the national objective of safeguarding the environment and boosting national economic development (Dilger, 2012, 2). They believe

Marketing plan for dove skin-care products for men Essay

Marketing plan for dove skin-care products for men - Essay Example This is one of the most important parts of marketing – availability of information about products and people. The first information need that a marketer must meet is consumer orientation. We have to identify the target market, which in this case is the male population, aged 15-34-year-olds. This is a growing segment of users of facial skincare products. Skin care products, like moisturizers and deep-cleaning facewash, are products that should be built up through the marketing mix. More information of these products has to be analysed and enhanced as the information from the market segment becomes rich and valuable. A market analysis for introducing a new kind of product which, according to Mintel, is a need product for 15-34-year-olds of the UK male population, has to be done with several factors to be taken into consideration. It is not only the customers and their needs that we need to understand. We also have to take into consideration the organisation’s capabilities , and this includes our competitors’ capabilities, how the customers’ will respond or react to the product, the organisation’s economic needs, the technological aspects, and other important elements in the supply chain. If we have to anticipate customers’ needs and wants, we must have a thorough understanding of consumer behaviour. This part of marketing is complicated but it can be done through research and surveys. The needs and motivations of the male population, the 15-24 and the 15-34 demographics, can be accomplished through online surveys. Surveys can also be done by hiring an independent firm who knows the mechanics of surveying potential customers and their needs. The company needs marketing insight. Marketing insight is also known as â€Å"voice of the customer† over which the manager’s decision is to be based. A firm has to understand the customer; when this is accomplished, product planning and development, including department c ommunications and other relevant information, are easily done. Customer insight is attained by means of the activities in the marketing mix. With the Internet and Information Technology, advertising and promotion are easily accomplished. A firm can conduct online surveys and use the results in formulating plans and future product goals. Online surveys are popular these days. It can acquire a lot of information regarding the customer and their preferences on products and how products should be made. (Jobber and Lancaster 31) Marketing insight is similar to market orientation because it focuses on acquiring information about customers, competing firms, and the marketing environment. The information has to be examined and analysed in the context of the business perspective; how the information can be used to deliver products of value or quality; and how the product can satisfy the customer. (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel 6) A. Overall Marketing Strategy for Dove From consumer orientation, t he firm must focus on customer satisfaction as part of marketing; meaning marketing should be customer focused and consumer oriented but should be in line with corporate objectives. The next part of the marketing concept is systems orientation. Marketing of Dove products must be a part of a system and to be implemented by a team functioning in unison. (Jobber & Lancaster 23) The key to a successful marketing is ensuring that the needs and wants of customers are met and the products provide these needs and wants. This is the trend in the globalised business. The company should attain customer loyalty, with a focus on the price. Men’s moisturizers may not be a new product but there might be stiff competition in the market. Companies might have taken it for granted but with the recent surveys provided by Mintel, what business needs now is product enhancement. And we can’t get this through outsourcing. Product enhancement should be done in-house. The marketing concept is b ased on the customer’

French Revolution and Napoleon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

French Revolution and Napoleon - Essay Example The first and most important way in which he differed from the revolutionaries was that his idea of civil liberties was quite different from the ideals supported by them. He imposed strict controls over the press, used spying tactics on his own people to look for enemies within and even though he had made a civil code, he arrested people without having real causes and sent his enemies to jail without bringing proper charges or having trials (Spielvogel, 2005). In this manner, his actions were closer to the monarchical system than revolutionary equality. This violation of rights continued as he revoked the Declaration of the Rights of Man and established a system of hereditary privilege which would essentially bring back monarchy to the country and its various principalities. The brothers of Napoleon were made the rulers of areas such as Spain, Holland, Warsaw, and Switzerland. His best generals were given hereditary titles which made them immediate members of the nobility in France (Spielvogel, 2005). This was certainly a departure from the ideals of the revolution but Napoleon could do it because he was a dictator and he remained popular. In terms of religion, while the revolutionaries sought to break away from religion in all possible ways including changing the calendar and the number of days in a week, Napoleon saw no such need for removing the presence of the church from France. He made deals with the Catholic Church which allowed him to consolidate his power and give some concessions to the church at the same time. Of course, he did not snatch the land from the bourgeoisie to give back to the church but he did establish a system under which priests became government servants so they could receive a stipend from the national treasury to support their activities (Spielvogel, 2005). Â  

A)The original concept of the NHS in 1948 was to improve the health of Essay

A)The original concept of the NHS in 1948 was to improve the health of the nation. It was perceived that this would result in - Essay Example Prior to this report, the biomedical definition of health held precidence, and this suggested that health need only be the absence of disease. This is not always the case, however, as an individual may state that they are healthy in biomedical terms, but their social class or lifestyle may cause them to be more susceptible to certain diseases or even just to have a lower quality of life than another individual. The aim of this essay is to discuss the effect that the NHS has had on the health of the UK and how these definitions of health have helped shape the British awareness of health and how it is to be maintained. This essay aims to explain how the success of the NHS has caused it to have more problems – the successful nature of the service has allowed people to live for such a long time that they now require more epensive medical care for longer than ever before. The NHS believed that it would reduce the need for provision, but instead has enhanced it. There are several as pects of an individual that determine the standard of health he/she can enjoy. These range from the unalterable – age, sex and genetic factors, for example – to the areas which health promotion aims to improve and which should not be an issue in the sphere of health – lifestyle, housing and social class. Age is evidently a determinant of health, in that the chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease) that have come to define the modern West occur increasingly with age . Age is also generally associated with being slower and weaker and as such the elderly may believe themselves to be in ‘suboptimal health’ (Ubel et al., 2005, p1054) and be more inclined to seek healthcare. Sex is another obvious determinant of health, with various diseases affecting either sex more than others. Autism, for example, affects men more than women , but depression affects more women than men (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2001, p173). The same can be said for various cancers that simply cannot occur in a certain sex because of the missing anatomical parts. Hereditary factors such as genetic disease (Huntington’s, Fragile X) or genetic predispositions (posession of the BRC1 gene [Xu, 2008, p460], susceptibility to early-onset Alzheimer’s) also affect our health. However, it is those things that health promotion can have an effect over, such as lifestyle, housing and social class. Lifestyle is probably the biggest killer, with smoking, lack of exercise and over-eating still being common in the UK (Office for National Statistics, 2009) and the resulting diseases associated with these conditions being more deadly than ever. Housing and social class have less of an effect than in the past, with benefits and, of course, the NHS providing an equality of care for all people in the UK. Unemployment is also considered dangerous in the health stakes. This is due to the fact that it reduces longevity and health, particularly amongst m en (Carvel, 2002, p1). It is also reported that the NHS could help reduce unemployment by recruiting in the local area and thus save costs to itself. However, unemployment used to be a much bigger worry than it is today, with healthcare having to be paid for up front, making it particularly inaccessible to the masses of people on low income. However, this all changed with the start of the NHS and the availability of the

Discussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Discussion questions - Essay Example t is an abstraction of phenomena, a theory consolidates all the variables that define the phenomena and outline the characteristic relationship between or among the variables. The above concept-theory aspects show that concepts and theories are intertwined. In other words, theories are built on concepts. Concepts lay the foundation upon which theories are developed. Concepts introduce the idea or phenomena in question but do not develop any variables or principles contained therein. With this foundation, theories capture the variables, principles and interests contained in the concepts and interrelates them prior to the development of the desired theory. When the principles and variables to the concepts are defined and their characteristic relationship outlined, then a theory is developed. That is to say, theories are basically formed from concepts (Walker & Avant, 2011). The link between concepts and theories is therefore seen through the interdependence of each one of them to the other. A concept is not a theory, and on the other hand a theory results form a concept. This complementarity is the link between concepts and theories. Theories are tested through formulation, evaluation and assessment of hypotheses. A hypothesis is a statement that argues for or against a phenomenon. The interest is to test and ascertain which phenomenon is most appropriate and applicable to the theory being tested. In other words, null and alternative hypotheses are stated in the context of the theory being tested. It is important to highlight that theories are tested to confirm or refute them. If proven true, theories are upheld. On the other hand, when proven false, they are refuted. Theory testing focuses on the variables that define the theory. The concepts that make up the theory are highlighted and the relationship between and among all the variables determined. In order to do this, the fact that the theory being tested is formulated from concepts is upheld. Data and

Implicit Premise Essay Example for Free

Implicit Premise Essay Implicit premise is a missing premise that is supposed to support the conclusion to make the argument a good and well-formed argument. The implicit premise from â€Å"There are sins worse than cheating† by The Unskooled Professor is, performance of students and teachers evaluate the value of the university. The argument talks about what kind of grades a student gets when they are found guilty of academic dishonesty, then concludes with a point saying that academic dishonesty will destruct the value of the university. However it does not point out why academic dishonesty is related to the value of the university. If I were to reconstruct the argument, I would interpret it as shown below. Without implicit: 1) Students guilty of academic dishonesty will receive a letter grade of FD ,â€Å"Failure with Dishonesty† 2) Receiving an FD is worse than receiving an F 3) Academic dishonesty is a concoction of individual professors 4) Therefore, academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Adding the implicit premise: 1) Students guilty of academic dishonesty will receive a letter grade of FD; â€Å"Failure with Dishonesty† 2) Receiving an FD is worse than receiving an F 3) Academic dishonesty is a concoction of individual professors 4) Performance of students and teachers evaluate the value of the university 5) Therefore, academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Before adding the implicit premise, there were no premises to support why the values of the university will fall due to academic dishonesty. In general, most people know that academic dishonesty will give a student a failing mark and will bring down the grade average of the university which evaluates the value and ratings of universities. However, for people who does not have any knowledge about universities will not know why the values of the university would be ultimately destructive. By adding the implicit premise, a stronger argument can be formed and can support and reason why the conclusion may be true.

Theories of the Causes of Black Holes

Theories of the Causes of Black Holes Black Holes The phrase â€Å"black holes† is introduced to scientific world not by a physicist but a journalist, Ann Ewing in 1964, who made a report on a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Ewing, 1964). Some elegant French argued that the phrase has annoying sexual insinuation. After that, the famous physics John Wheeler spread the â€Å"black holes† widely in physics and the public view. Actually the concept of an object so massive that even the light can’t be escaped is proposed by Michell (1783), as well as by Laplace (Gillispie, 2000) But this idea was so radical at that time when the light was thought to be massless. The golden age of black holes came along with the establishment of the generally relativity by A. Einstein (OConnor, 1996). Schwarzschild and Droste solved the Einstein field equations independently and a solution describing a point mass was found (Schwarzchild, 1916; Droste, 1917). The properties of the black holes are dev eloped and explained by a group of important works. G. Lemaitre and R. Oppenheimer have interpreted the singularity (Hooft, 2009; Ruffini, 1971). The event horizon is defined as a boundary inspace and time, inside which an event can’t be observed by the outsider (Wheeler, 2007). The no-hair theory of the black hole is completed by the work of Carter (1971), Israel (1967) and Robinson (1975), declaring that a stationary black hole can be described by only three parameters: the mass, the charge and the angular momentum. The black hole thermodynamics is interpreted by Bardeen et al. (1973). In order to get a direct physical picture of a black hole, an illustration of a non-spinning black hole is given. Based on mathematically solution, a non-spinning black hole possesses a spherically symmetric boundary, which is also the event horizon. The center of the non-spinning black hole is a singularity where the gravitational forces become infinite. The distance between the singularity and the event horizon is called the Schwarzschild radius. The surface gravity of a stationary black hole is constant over the event horizon. One thing to be noted, it is impossible by any procedure, no matter how idealized, to reduce the surface gravity to zero by a finite sequence of operations. Aphoton sphere, the radius of which is 1.5 times of the Schwarzschild radius, is a  spherical  special region where  gravity  forces the  photons  to travel in orbits. Generally the black hole is classified to four groups according to their mass: micro, stellar, intermediate-mass and super ma ssive black hole. Generally the size of a black hole is approximately proportional to its mass, the heavier of a black hole, the bigger of its size. A black hole with mass of 1000 times of solar mass has a radius like the earth. The formation of a black hole is a mystery. Einstein thought that the exotic object, like black holes, would not exist in nature even there are such solutions to Einstein gravitationalfield equations. However, more and more theoretical calculations and even important astronomical observations have proved that Einstein is wrong. Most astrophysicists have reached an agreement that the formation of a black hole usually evolves many stages. First the primary process of the evolution is the gravitational collapse, which is usually occurs after the death of a heavy object, like stars. When a star doesn’t have enough â€Å"fuel† to keep its temperature through nuclearreaction or the star is keeping absorbing matters around it by universalgravitation. After the collapse, if the mass of leftover exceeds over 3 to 4 times of solar mass, it has an opportunity to form a black hole. The second stage is the formation of the event horizon, which is also the way to distinguish the blac k holes and other forms of objects, such as neutron stars, which are also a result of the gravitational collapse. Thanks to the work of Kerr (2009), who proved that the event horizon could be physical not just mathematical. According to the black holes thermodynamics, the area of the event horizon of each black hole does not decrease with time. After the presence of the event horizon, a singularity will form in a black hole (Penrose, 1965). This is considered to be the third stage. A black hole can continually grow up by absorbing the matters and interstellar dust or even merges with other stars or black holes. This is considered to be a way to super massive black holes. The last stage of black holes is the evaporation. If the Hawking’s theory can be verified, a black hole is not totally black but emits its thermal radiation with a quite small quantity. This means that a black hole would loss its mass by Hawking radiation (Parikh, 2000) and vanishes eventually. Simulation res ults show that a small black hole owns very strong emission effects. The Hawking radiation will be discussed in details. Once the scientific world accepts the concept of black holes, a question is launched: are the black holes keep growing and expanding? Hawking says no! By applying quantum field theory into a stationary black hole background, he found that a black hole should radiate particles like a black body near the event horizon (Hawking, 1974). Physical picture to this bizarre phenomenon is the radiation is not come from the black holes directly, but the results of particle-antiparticle formation just beyond the event horizon. Specifically, a particle-antiparticle pair generated from the vacuum fluctuations appears close to the event horizon. One of the pair escapes forms the boundary while another one falls into it (Droste, 1917). Another interesting question is: how can be detected a black hole where even light can’t escape? The direct way is to probing the Hawking radiation, unfortunately the simulation results show that the Hawking radiation is too small to be detected from the Earth. In 2008 NASA launched the Fermi Gammar-ray Space Telescope to search the Hawking radiation which is strong in the last stage of a black hole (Naeye, 2008). Beyond the detection of Hawking radiation. Many indirect approaches to detecting black holes are proposed and realized by astrophysicists. The X-ray binaries, a binary star system, emit bright X-ray spectrum. The XUV radiation is generally considered to be caused by a compact star being accreting interstellar gas and dust. The presence of the X-ray binary gives an opportunity to locating a black hole. In 1999, Celotti reported the existence of the sofr X-ray transients and predicted that a black hole may be formed in the region (Celotti, 1999). Still more data and needed to verify this finding. Another way to detect a black hole is based on the massive gravitational effect caused by the black holes. On candidate is the gravitational lens effect which deforms the space structure to bend the light as if a lens. The way to observe the gravitational lens effect is to observe the orbit of a star near the vicinity of a black hole. The evidence of the black holes caused gravitational lens i s found by Bozza et al. (2010) around Sagittarius A*. A widely accepted view is that a super massive black holes exists in nearly the center of every galaxy, not just active ones. When an observer is falling into a black hole, what kind of experience would he have? Theorists argue that if another observer out of the black holes tries to describe the falling one he should never be able to cross the horizon. This means, the falling one should take infinite time to cross the event horizon if he were not torn apart by tidal forces even before reaching the horizon. On the other hand, for this observer falling across the event horizon, he takes only a finite proper time in his own coordinate. However, he will not find any Hawking radiation. In fact this paradox comes from the contradiction between the general gravitational theory and the quantum mechanism. The two theories are successful in their own regions, general gravitational theory for cosmic and the quantum mechanism for atomic particles, but they can’t fit each other. The funny thing is that Einstein is against the quantum mechanism even he is one of the founders to it and even he was rewarded the Nob ile Prize for his important work in quantum mechanism. Until now this is still an open question to the theoretical and astronomical physicists. The black holes attract attentions both from scientists and the public. 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