The Evolution of Jet Engines The jet engine is a complex propulsion device which draws in air by means of an intake, compresses it, heats it by means of an internal combustion engine, which when expelled it turns a turbine to produce thrust, resulting in a force sufficient enough to propell the aircraft in the opposite direction (Morgan 67). When the jet engine was thought of back in the 1920's the world never thought it would become a reality, but by 1941 the first successful jet flight was flown in England. Since then the types of engines have changed, but the basic principals have remained the same. In 1921 thoughts of a jet engine were based upon adaptations of piston engines and were usually very heavy and complicated. These thoughts were refined in the 1930's when the turbine engine design lead to the patent of the turbojet engine by Sir Frank Whittle of Great Britian. It was Sir Whittle's design that lead Great Britian into the jet age with the first successful flight. At the same time, the Germans were designing there own jet engine and aircraft which would be one of the factors that kept Germany alive in World War II. With technological advances by the allies a prototype turbojet known as the "Heinkel He 178" came into a few operational squadrons in the German, British, and the American air forces towards the end of World War II. These jets finally helped the allies to win the war against the axis powers(Smith 23-27). A later development in the jet industry was the overcoming of the sound barrier and establishing normal operations up to and beyond twice the speed of sound. Also air force bombers and transports were able to reach and cruise at supersonic speeds(Silverstein 56-70). In the late 1950's civil transcontinental jet services started with the Comet 4 and the Boeing 707. In the mid 1960's all major jet manufacturing companies revised their present engines with new materials such as aircraft aluminium which made them lighter and turbine changes so they could compress the air at a much higher pressure so the engine can produce much more thrust.The first supersonic airliner is the twin turbojet Concorde which flies at over twice the speed of sound which was brought into regular service in 1976(Smith 27-30). The one company that dominates the private jet industry is Bombardier which makes the Learjet turbofans, they have an approximate cruising distance of 1880 nautical miles(Jennings 103). In the future, turbojet engines will continue to further develop due to the technological advances made. As in graphite composite wings, thermoplastic
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12/27/2019 0 Comments Infant Observation EssayFor my assignment, I observed at the daycare program housed inside my church called Gateway To Learning (2930 Rayford Rd., Spring, TX 77386), a Christian childcare provider for ages 6-weeks to fourth grade (after school). There are currently 185 children enrolled in the GTL program, including after-schoolers. GTL employs approximately 50 people, not including substitute teachers. The teacher:student ratios are as follows: ages 6 weeks to 12 months – 4:1, 12 to 18 months – 5:1, 18 to 24 months – 9:1, 2 year olds – 11:1, 3 year olds – 15:1, and four year olds – 18:1. All of the teachers must be CPR certified, First Aid certified, and trained in SIDS, shaken baby syndrome, infant brain development, and child abuse. I was placed in the infant room with babies 6-weeks to one year. The room was set up well. There were eight cribs and/or pack-and-plays aligned around the walls of the room with allowed for easy movement of teachers and crawlers. In the center of the room was a bright, primary color plat mat that the little ones loved rolling around on. There were also bouncers and jumper play toys for the kids to hop inside and have fun with. In one corner of the room was the changing table, kitchenette for warming milk and mixing baby cereal, and refrigerator for storage. There was ample storage space in the kitchenette and the entrances were blocked with childproof gates. Each child has a cubby to put their diaper bags in as well as extra toys, blankets, etc. I think that the room was just the right size for the amount of children in the class, and I think that it was set up in a user-friendly way so getting around was simple. The infant room was on a schedule, but the babies are tiny and all on their own schedules at home, so it was difficult for the teachers to get all of the children doing the same thing at the same time. For instance, when it was time for lunch, some babies had just fallen asleep. The schedule was fairly straightforward: arrive, breakfast, nap, play, lesson, lunch, nap, play, leave. But like I mentioned, some babies were doing their own thing, napping when they could have been playing or playing when they were supposed to be eating. Upon asking the teachers about the schedule, they all agreed that if everyone is happy, then the schedule comes second. I think I would agree with their opinions. Although the infant room wasn’t strict on scheduling, all of the babies were happy during my observation. None of the children in the infant room were talking much. There was only one baby (11 months) that could make actual words. He could say “Mama†and “Dada.†Pretty basic. The other babies were verbal, definitely able to let you know if they were hungry, wet or tired, just not producing identifiable words. At one point during my time, one baby was in a jumper talking with another baby across the room. They were chatting back and forth and laughing with each other. I wish I could have understood what they were saying, because it was so cute. My favorite age in the infant room were 6-9 months because they were so bright-eyed and ready for anything. All of the teachers spoke with cheerful voices and kept their tones light. When they would talk directly to a baby, they wouldn’t use baby-talk and instead focused on using the same words over and over again to teach the baby to remember select words or phrases. For example, when one baby was hungry and started crying, the teacher that fed him kept saying, “Let’s get your milk.†I asked if the babies tended to remember the short words or phrases and she responded that half of the time there was success. When it came to diapering, the changing table was sanitized after each diaper change and new wax paper is laid on the cushion before the next baby is changed. Employees must wear gloves when changing diapers and wash their hands after finishing. Every few hours, the toys in the infant room are sanitized. The floor mat is sanitized three times a day, once in the morning, once at lunch, and once in the afternoon. To prevent bad health/hygiene, employees are required to wash their hands before handling personal baby items such as food, clothes, pacifiers, etc. If one child has a runny nose and the teacher uses a tissue, she will then have to wash her hands even though her skin never touched the baby’s runny nose. The teachers in the infant room were constantly washing their hands, just to be safe. When the babies were ready to be fed, the teacher would wash her hands, warm the milk/mix the baby cereal, and either sit in a rocking chair or place the baby in a freshly sanitized high chair to feed them. After the baby was finished, the teacher would wash out the bottles/bowls and sanitize the high chair. Then she would wash her hands again. Each baby was on their own feeding schedule, so running water was a noise I heard constantly throughout the day. When the babies were ready to go to bed, they were placed in a crib designated for them. Each baby was given a blanket provided by the parents during nap time and a pacifier if provided by the parent as well. Some babies slept in 20 minute intervals while others slept for an hour depending on their age. Like I mentioned, it is hard to get all of the babies to sleep at the same time, but I was surprised that the ones who would fall asleep stayed asleep while their classmates fussed when hungry or wet. There were a variety of toys for the babies to play with. From dogs that sang songs to maracas for them to shake, each baby had plenty of options. The favorite toys in the room were the ones where the baby could lay down while playing with them, so mobiles and jumpers were the most popular. There were also electric swings to lay the babies in if they weren’t happy sleeping in their cribs as well as pack-and-plays. When it came to communication between teachers and parents, there were quite a few ways of transferring information. Each baby had a clipboard with their name on it with papers that were sent home with the parents at the end of each day. The slips had time slots when diapers were changed, bottles were drunk, and naps were taken. I liked how easy it was to organize the information and still keep the parents happy. Notes were often sent in diaper bags for specific inquiries like “Can you please send an extra onesie tomorrow?†and of the sort. Overall I think the communication process is very organized and is easy for everyone. My overall opinion of GTL is very high. I had a great time observing and learning about how my church provides care for kids that don’t always come on Sundays. The atmosphere of GTL was very positive and everyone seemed genuinely happy to be working there. All of the teachers were friendly with the kids, even when they had to punish them or take something away, and did everything with a kind heart. The room was very clean and the babies were all happy (most of the time). I liked how each baby had their own crib and cubby, and how everyone was so personable. There were a lot of people stopping by the door just to say “hi†to another teacher, and I liked knowing that all of the employees seemed to get along with each other without too many issues. The director was pleasant and inviting, as well as knowledgeable when it came to procedures, trainings, and employing new team members. I really enjoyed my time at GTL and will definitely go back when I need to gather more information for my Pre-School observation.
12/16/2019 0 Comments Theories of Feminist GeographyTheories of Feminist Geography
Does a feminist geography need be primarily concerned with the lives of women? In relation to the essay title, according to Dias et al (2008), Hesse- Biber (2012) and McDowell (1992), there are significant diversity and heterogeneity among feminist geography and its research, with no single methodology or epistemology. Therefore, instead of viewing feminist geography as a static sub-discipline, feminist geography should be examined by looking at a wide range of work produced by feminist geographers addressing the issues found in different contexts, with varying research aims. By examining existing studies, this essay aims to demonstrate the fact that some aspects of feminist geography have, in fact, been primarily concerned with lives of women in a socio- spatial context. Subsequently, this essay also aims to demonstrate that feminist geography did not engage exclusively with the lives of women; by examining practices within the geography discipline, associated with the discipline’s exclusion of female, feminist geographer have offered important insights for geographers in understanding gender bias embedded in geography, and has facilitated the re-evaluation of geographic knowledge and practices among scholars. According to Dixon et al (2014), feminist geography is primarily concerned with improving women’s lives by identifying, and to develop an understanding of the sources of women’s oppression, as well as the dynamics and spatiality of the oppression. This description of feminist geography is mirrored by work produced by feminist geographers that has adapted Marxist theory in examining the relations among economic development, space and gender under capitalism (Pratt, 1994). These feminist geographers were focusing on the social- spatial exclusion of suburban households’ female members from paid employment, which was an important element in reproduction of labour power, and has provided insights to how traditional gender relations in capitalistic societies are continued and preserved (Pratt, 1994; Mackenzie et al, 1983; Hawkesworth 2006; Seccombe 1974; Beechey 1977; Eisenstein 1979; Nelson, 1986; Massey, 1984; Chant et al, 1995; Hanson et al, 1995; Gerstein, 1973). Feminist geographers have argued that the isolation of women from employment a strategy that is vital to manage the effects of capitalist economy; it reproduces the dominant- subordinate that is essential to the operations of capitalist production (Hawkesworth 2006; Eisenstein 1979; Beechey 1977; Pratt, 1994). The isolation also facilitates daily and generational reproduction of labour power, plus it leads to the creation of a labour force, which consists of women who are willing to be working for less than substantive wages (Mackenzie et al, 1983; Pratt, 1994; Seccombe 1974; Hawkesworth 2006; Beechey 1977; Nelson 1986; Eisenstein 1979; Massey, 1984; Chant et al, 1995; Hanson et al, 1995; Pearson, 1986). This was demonstrated in Nelson’s (1986) and Hawkesworth’s (2006) study, as he mentioned that in 1970s, capitalist in the United States had relocated to suburban locations in aiming to employ, or further exploit, according to Marxist perspectives, housewives who are more inclined to work despite the less than substantive wages. It has also been revealed that governmental policies, working-class household strategies, as well as traditional male power exercised in both families and trade unions are interplaying factors facilitate the isolation of women as housewives to inhibit or minimize employment opportunities available to women (Mackenzie et al, 1983; Hawkesworth 2006; Seccombe 1974; Eisenstein 1979; Nelson 1986; Pratt, 1994; Massey, 1984; Hanson et al, 1995; Gerstein, 1973). These literatures by feminist geographers are fundamentally linked to the lives of women (Johnson, 2007; Pratt, 1994; Hanson et al, 1995; Seccombe, 1974). By using women’s lives as point of departure, they have identify the consequences of the exclusion of women from employment; creation of female labour that are more prone to be subjected to capitalistic exploitation, enabled by traditional gender and social relations which constitute capitalism, in conjunction with patriarchal gender relations, which have contributed to the redefining of the spatial distribution of women’s social and economic activities in urban areas. However, feminist geographers did not engage exclusively with the lives of women. Feminist geographers are also concerned with development of geography, in relation to the exclusion and isolation of female scholars from the discipline, and how this has affected geographic research and thought. As Morin (1995: 1) has described, the theme of these studies is ‘“gender of geography†rather that the “geography of gender†’. Under this theme, feminist geographers have highlighted the fact that geography is a male- dominated discipline (Rose, 1993; Dixon et al, 2006; LeVasseur, 1993). As suggested by Dixon et al (2006), women have been excluded from higher education from late nineteenth to early twentieth century; early universities mainly consists of upper- class white men. During that period of time, female are mainly found in the field of teaching and helping professions, and are mostly absent in the disciplines and institutions that have contributed to the establishment of modern geography, such as geology and “expert†societies, such as Royal Geographical Society (Rose, 1993; Dixon et al, 2006). These “expert†societies were heavily involved with the establishment of geography as a discrete academic discipline, by defining geography’s investigation agenda and methodologies, as well as establishing programs in university (Dixon et al, 2006). Since these societies had entry requirements based on peer nomination and work assessment, it was difficult for women to join such societies, as their works are often dismissed as non- scholarly (Dixon et al, 2006). As a result, these institutions had a disproportionately large numbers of male members (Rose, 1993; Dixon et al, 2006). As female are not able to negotiate in this field of study due to institutional discrimination , white men were able to almost exclusively define what constitute as the norm in the discipline, which has allowed masculinist thinking to thrive and flourish in geography (Rose, 1993; Dixon et al, 2006). A number of scholars have pointed out as men have associated themselves with attributes or descriptions in their studies on landscape, such as culture, intellectualism, practicality and mobility (Rose, 1993; Pile, 1994; Berg, 1994). The adaptation of dualistic worldview that was assumed to be objective and scientifically sound has meant that women are therefore associated with nature, body and emotionalism (Rose, 1993; Berg, 1994; Lloyd, 1984). Further, masculinist thinking believes that men are capable of rational thought, whereas women are not, as “female-ness†was thought of as the lack of “maleness†(Jay, 1981; Massey, 1998; Longhurst, 2000; Lloyd, 1984; Bordo, 1986; Berg, 1994). Together, these beliefs have helped to establish a hierarchical, binary opposition between mind and body; culture and nature; men and women, with the latter assumed to be inferior and less important (Pile, 1994; Rose, 1993; Berg, 1994; Lloyd, 1984). Dualistic world views have also meant that, according to masculinist thinking, men are traditionally associated with public spaces, due to their association with waged work, which requires mobility and intelligence (Dixon et al, 2006; Rose, 1993; Longhurst, 2000; Berg, 1994). Therefore in contrast, women are typically associated with private spaces due to their traditionally assigned role as care- taker at home (Dixon et al, 2006; Rose, 1993; Longhurst, 2000; Bordo, 1986). Men self- proclaimed attributes, facilitated by dualistic world views have facilitated the formation of a hierarchy in geography in relation to gender (Rose, 1993). The hierarchical opposition signifies that spaces that are typically associated with female, reproduction activities are deemed as less important and less valued when comparing to spaces that are associated with men and their waged production activities (Dixon et al, 2006). Dixon et al (2006) has demonstrated that geographer has thus focus their studies on male productive activities, such as steel manufacturing, rather than investigating reproductive activities that are traditionally associated with women, such as day care for example. As stated by Dixon et al (2006), this bias is reproduced in the discipline across multiple research area. This argument demonstrates the problems underlying geography; the focus on production relative to reproduction within geography signifies the existence of a knowledge gap within the discipline, in regard to areas associated with female economic and social activities. Furthermore, this can discourage scholars, who aim to examine or carry out research in fields associated with female activities, to engage with geography due to concerns over the research prioritization mentioned above, and turn to other disciplines that they feel their research will be valued (Dixon et al, 2006). Together, these diminish the scope of geographic investigation, further reducing any potential knowledge that would have been produced and incorporated within the discipline of geography, which lead to the diminishing of the academic significance of geography, and this urges the re-thinking of geographic practices, in order to minimize bias due to the discipline’s masculinist legacy (Dixon et al, 2006; Pile, 1994; Monk et al, 1982). In conclusion, the works of feminist geographers examined in this essay have all shared a common theme- the exclusion of women and the consequences, in different contexts or settings. In some aspects of feminist geography, feminist geographers have directly engaged with the lives of women; studies have attempt to undercover ways in which women are oppressed under capitalism, and to demonstrate how women’s lives, in regards to their economic opportunities, are limited as a result of the exclusion from employment. However, this essay has also demonstrated that there are existing studies in which the primary concern is the development of discipline, under the influence of limited female participation. They have highlighted that the discipline’s lack of female involvement, which has facilitated the flourishing of traditional masculine thinking as dominant discourse in geography, has in turn lead to the production of biased knowledge and skewed research approaches that constitute geography- this remained to be an internal, innate problem that results in the narrowing of the scope of study, and has imposed limits on the production of geographic knowledge. The problems highlight above, by feminist geographers, can perhaps urge geographers to rethink their research priorities and focuses, to avoid the induction, or reproduction of masculine- orientated bias in geography, to overcome the legacy of male- domination in order to facilitate wider, more depth understanding of space/ place and social relations and activities. Together, these studies have confirmed that there is significant diversity among feminist geography; feminist geographers have addressed a range of issue or concerns that relate to gender bias or inequality in different contexts. Thus it can be said that the “primary concern†cannot therefore be generalized into one subject of concern. Reference Karen Dias Jennifer Blecha (2007) Feminism and Social Theory in Geography: An Introduction , The Professional Geographer, 59(1): 1-9 LeVasseur, M (1993) Finding a Way: Encouraging Underrepresented Groups in Geography: An Annotated Bibliography. Indiana, PA: National Council for Geographic Education Rose, G. (1993) Feminism and geography: the limits of geographical knowledge. Cambridge: Polity Press. Massey, D. (1998) Blurring the binaries? High tech in Cambridge. In Ainley, R. (ed.) New frontiers of space, bodies and gender, London: Routledge Morin, K (1995) The Gender of Geography. Postmodern Culture. [Online] 3:2 Available at: http://pmc.iath.virginia.edu/text-only/issue.195/review-3.195[Accessed: 19 February 2015] MacKenzie, S; Rose, D (1983) Industrial change, the domestic economy and home life. In Anderson J; Ducan, S; Hudson, R (eds.) Redundant Spaces in Cities and Regions? Social Geography and Industrial Change. London: Achedemic Press Dixon, D.P.; Jones III, J.P. (2006) Feminist Geographies of Difference, Relation, and Construction. In Aitken, S; Valentine, G (eds.) Approaches to Human Geography. International: SAGE Linda McDowell (1992) Doing Gender: Feminism, Feminists and Research Methods in Human Geography. 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The Professional Geographer 34(1): 11-23 Hesse-Biber, S.N. (2012) Feminist Research: Exploring, Interrogating, and Transforming the Interconnections of Epistemology, Methodology, and Method. In Hesse- Biber, S.N. (ed.) Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis (2nd edn) International: SAGE |