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Knowledge Corner
Evolution of Electronic Games
A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The popular use of the term "video game" implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use. The origin of video games lies in early cathode ray tube (CRT)-based missile defense systems in the late 1940s. The earliest known example was by Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Mann on a CRT, a missile simulator. The player had to control the CRT beam and position a dot on the screen, inspired by radar displays from World War II. More computer games were developed by the late 1950s and through the 1960s mostly on mainframe computers, gradually increasing in sophistication and complexity. Following this period, video games diverged into different platforms: arcade, mainframe, console, personal computer and later handheld games. The first commercially viable video game was computer space in 1971, which laid the foundation for a new entertainment industry in the late 1970s within the United States, Japan, and Europe. The first major crash in 1977 occurred when companies were forced to sell their older obsolete systems flooding the market, resulted in a total collapse of the console gaming industry in the US, ultimately shifting dominance of the market from North America to Japan. While the crash killed the console gaming market, the computer gaming market was largely unaffected. Subsequent generations of console video games would continue to be dominated by Japanese corporations until the sixth generation, Microsoft Xbox. The handheld gaming market has followed a similar path, total domination by Japan. Currently only Japanese companies have major successful handheld gaming consoles from Sega, Nintendo and Sony, although in recent years handheld games have come to devices like cell phones and PDAs. Starcraft was the first PC game to ever make it to space. It was sent aboard shuttle mission STS-96 on May 27th, 1999 by Daniel T Barry, an avid Starcraft fan supported by the fact that an average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years. Happy Gaming!!! History of Science-Middle Age
Throughout the Middle Ages, scientific activities were carried out in diverse fields, like astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. The historical term "Middle Ages" developed as the "Greco-Arabic-Latin" science and natural philosophy of the time has been described as "a triumph of three civilizations”. In the Middle Ages the Byzantine Empire, which had inherited the sophisticated science, mathematics, and medicine of classical antiquity fell behind the achievements of Western Europe and the Islamic world. When the knowledge of Greek declined during the Middle Ages, the Latin West found itself cut off from its Greek philosophical and scientific roots. Around 800, Charles the Great, assisted by the English monk Alcuin of York, undertook a program of cultural revitalization and educational reform- Carolingian Renaissance. It concerned the study and teaching of astronomy, both as a practical art that clerics required to compute the date of Easter. Around the year 1050, European scholars developed knowledge by seeking out ancient learning in Greek and Arabic texts translated into Latin. This period also saw the birth of medieval universities. Some of these were registered as institutions of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire, receiving the title of Studium Generale. Most of them were found in Italy, France, England, and Spain. In the Islamic world, the Middle Age is known as the Islamic golden age, when Islamic civilization and Islamic scholarship flourished. Muslim scientists placed far greater emphasis on experiment than had the Greeks. This significant progress in methodology was made, beginning with the experiments of Ibn al-Haytham on optics, in his Book of Optics Circa 1021. Muslim chemists and alchemists played an important role in the foundation of modern chemistry particularly Jabir Ibn Hayyan, for introducing an early experimental scientific method within the field, as well as the alembic, still, retort, and the chemical processes of pure distillation, filtration, sublimation, liquefaction, crystallization, purification, oxidization and evaporation. Muslim scientists also made significant advances in botany and agricultural science. In astronomy, Al-Battani improved the measurements of Hipparchus, natural philosophy was also separated from astronomy by Alhazen, Ibn al-Shatir etc. In mathematics, Al-Khwarizmi gave his name to the concept of the algorithm, while the term algebra is derived from his publication Al-Jabr. He recognized algebra as a distinct field of mathematics.
A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The popular use of the term "video game" implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use. The origin of video games lies in early cathode ray tube (CRT)-based missile defense systems in the late 1940s. The earliest known example was by Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Mann on a CRT, a missile simulator. The player had to control the CRT beam and position a dot on the screen, inspired by radar displays from World War II. More computer games were developed by the late 1950s and through the 1960s mostly on mainframe computers, gradually increasing in sophistication and complexity. Following this period, video games diverged into different platforms: arcade, mainframe, console, personal computer and later handheld games. The first commercially viable video game was computer space in 1971, which laid the foundation for a new entertainment industry in the late 1970s within the United States, Japan, and Europe. The first major crash in 1977 occurred when companies were forced to sell their older obsolete systems flooding the market, resulted in a total collapse of the console gaming industry in the US, ultimately shifting dominance of the market from North America to Japan. While the crash killed the console gaming market, the computer gaming market was largely unaffected. Subsequent generations of console video games would continue to be dominated by Japanese corporations until the sixth generation, Microsoft Xbox. The handheld gaming market has followed a similar path, total domination by Japan. Currently only Japanese companies have major successful handheld gaming consoles from Sega, Nintendo and Sony, although in recent years handheld games have come to devices like cell phones and PDAs. Starcraft was the first PC game to ever make it to space. It was sent aboard shuttle mission STS-96 on May 27th, 1999 by Daniel T Barry, an avid Starcraft fan supported by the fact that an average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years. Happy Gaming!!! History of Science-Middle Age
Throughout the Middle Ages, scientific activities were carried out in diverse fields, like astronomy, medicine, and mathematics. The historical term "Middle Ages" developed as the "Greco-Arabic-Latin" science and natural philosophy of the time has been described as "a triumph of three civilizations”. In the Middle Ages the Byzantine Empire, which had inherited the sophisticated science, mathematics, and medicine of classical antiquity fell behind the achievements of Western Europe and the Islamic world. When the knowledge of Greek declined during the Middle Ages, the Latin West found itself cut off from its Greek philosophical and scientific roots. Around 800, Charles the Great, assisted by the English monk Alcuin of York, undertook a program of cultural revitalization and educational reform- Carolingian Renaissance. It concerned the study and teaching of astronomy, both as a practical art that clerics required to compute the date of Easter. Around the year 1050, European scholars developed knowledge by seeking out ancient learning in Greek and Arabic texts translated into Latin. This period also saw the birth of medieval universities. Some of these were registered as institutions of international excellence by the Holy Roman Empire, receiving the title of Studium Generale. Most of them were found in Italy, France, England, and Spain. In the Islamic world, the Middle Age is known as the Islamic golden age, when Islamic civilization and Islamic scholarship flourished. Muslim scientists placed far greater emphasis on experiment than had the Greeks. This significant progress in methodology was made, beginning with the experiments of Ibn al-Haytham on optics, in his Book of Optics Circa 1021. Muslim chemists and alchemists played an important role in the foundation of modern chemistry particularly Jabir Ibn Hayyan, for introducing an early experimental scientific method within the field, as well as the alembic, still, retort, and the chemical processes of pure distillation, filtration, sublimation, liquefaction, crystallization, purification, oxidization and evaporation. Muslim scientists also made significant advances in botany and agricultural science. In astronomy, Al-Battani improved the measurements of Hipparchus, natural philosophy was also separated from astronomy by Alhazen, Ibn al-Shatir etc. In mathematics, Al-Khwarizmi gave his name to the concept of the algorithm, while the term algebra is derived from his publication Al-Jabr. He recognized algebra as a distinct field of mathematics.
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