18161213, Siemens was born in Lint, near Hanover, Germany. His family has been farming for generations. My father Ferdi Nantes graduated from the University of G? ttingen. He took part in the struggle against French aggression and later engaged in agricultural management. Siemens received a good family education when he was a child. Then, he went to the city primary school in Sheenburg and Rubeck Cowen Middle School. In primary and secondary schools, Siemens didn't like Chinese classes and liked natural science and technology. He studies engineering architecture especially hard and is going to apply for the Berlin Institute of Architecture. However, his father has nine children and can't support Siemens to enter higher technical colleges. Therefore, at the age of 18, Siemens joined the army in magdeburg and soon became a member of the artillery team. The following year, he entered the Berlin artillery school.
Berlin Artillery School attaches great importance to engineering education for students. Siemens has been studying and mastering natural science knowledge such as mathematics, physics and chemistry for three years. Once, when he was doing an experiment, his hearing was greatly damaged because of the explosion of the barrel. After graduating from artillery school, Siemens became an artillery second lieutenant. As a young officer, he is determined to further improve his scientific literacy. Therefore, he spent all his spare time studying science and technology and making inventions.
1840, 24-year-old Siemens was transferred to wittingburg. Here, he never stopped his scientific research and experiments. However, an unfortunate thing happened during this period. Young Siemens was arrested and imprisoned for taking part in a duel and violating military discipline. During his imprisonment, he continued his scientific research and experiments in prison and invented the method of electroplating gold and silver. 1842, Siemens obtained the patent right of this invention and sold it to a jeweler in magdeburg. Siemens, the original invention, although of little value, contains the practical use of current, which surprised people and left a deep impression.
After Siemens was released from prison, his life was very unstable because of frequent job changes. At first, he was transferred to Spandau Fireworks Factory for research and development. The fireworks he made by chemical methods are very popular because of their excellent performance. Soon, he was transferred to Berlin, not only engaged in the development of weapons and ammunition in Berlin Arsenal, but also signed a contract with others to open a gold-plated and silver-plated manufacturing plant. At the same time, he also made many inventions. For example: nickel plating method, zinc plate copying device on rotary rapid printing machine, steam engine regulator and steam locomotive spark collector, etc. At this time, Siemens kept selling its own inventions, with the main purpose of making money to support the family. Because elderly parents and many younger siblings need his care. He is a kind-hearted man and the eldest son, so he is duty-bound to shoulder the burden of family life.
1844, Charles William Siemens, the younger brother of Siemens, moved to England. He met with difficulties in learning printing technology in England. In order to help William improve his printing technology, Siemens has been to England. When passing through Paris, Siemens visited the French industrial exhibition and was greatly inspired. He realized that only by mastering rich scientific knowledge and scientific principles can technological inventions have a solid foundation. So, after returning to Berlin, he temporarily stopped his invention and turned to theoretical research to improve his academic level.
Unfortunately, because my family was poor in the past, I was unable to receive higher education. Since there are conditions, we must make up for this defect anyway. So Siemens, who is about to be 30 years old, went to Berlin University to attend classes. At the same time, I joined the engineering society. In this process, Siemens got to know many experts, scholars and technicians. He combined scientific theory with practical experience, and wrote a series of papers, such as About Using Hot Air as Power, Differential Regulator, and EDM Speed Measurement. Starting from 1845, these papers were published in Dingels Engineering magazine and Bergendoff Yearbook, which had a certain academic influence.
The forties of 19 were the beginning of wired telegraphy. Because telegraph plays an important role in people's lives, many people are actively engaged in the research of this communication technology. Since 1846, Siemens has also invested in the development of telegrams. After many experiments, he designed and manufactured a controllable intermittent manual transmitter. This kind of telegram is also called pointer telegram. In a competition, Siemens' pointer telegraph won the prize and was considered as the most suitable telegraph in Prussia's national telegraph network at that time.
Because Siemens has extensive contacts with scientific and military departments, pointer telegraph quickly became a best seller in the market. 1847 10 10 In October, Siemens cooperated with a mechanic named John Halske in Berlin to set up "Siemens-Halske Company" to research and manufacture telegraph communication equipment. Just this year, Siemens invented a method of using insulating glue on wires and cables. To this end, he was hired to work for the Prussian National Telegraph Bureau, playing a technical guidance role.
With the invention and best-selling of pointer telegraph, Siemens is becoming more and more famous. King Frederick of Prussia and Prince Friedrich William were very happy when they learned of Siemens' achievements. They immediately invited him to Potsdam to explain the knowledge and technology of telegraph communication to them. In addition, King Leopold of Belgium invited Siemens to the palace in Brussels to explain telegraph knowledge to members of the royal family.
1848, Prussia and Denmark broke out in war. As an officer, Siemens played his scientific and technological talents in this war. He used electric current ignition to block the mines in Kiel harbor. As a result of active combat, Siemens was received by General Verangel, and was promoted to the company commander of artillery company, taking on the security tasks in Kiel Port and other places. After the war, he was transferred back to Berlin to set up telegraph lines.
Thanks to the careful design and construction of Siemens, the telegraph line from Berlin to Frankfurt was laid from 1848 to 1849. This was the first long-distance line in Europe at that time. Then, he organized and set up a telegraph line from Berlin to Koren; This line extends all the way to Villepin, Belgium. He is also responsible for setting up the telegraph line from Hamburg to Bresley. In the process of setting up these lines, Siemens laid the underwater wire crossing the Rhine for the first time and achieved success.
At this time, the development of science and technology is changing with each passing day. Siemens has seen the trend and trend of scientific and technological development, and hopes to show its talents in the trend of scientific and technological progress. In order to concentrate on scientific research and run his own company, he retired from the army in June 1849. At the same time, he also resigned as the technical director of the State Telegraph Bureau.
After getting rid of complicated affairs, Siemens devoted itself to the research and invention of telegraph technology and achieved a series of significant results. He improved the telegraph and wires, invented the current disc device to change low voltage into high voltage, developed the double T-shaped armature, and so on. At the same time, he constantly summed up practical experience in the process of invention and creation, and wrote many papers with both academic value and application value. For example, in April of 1850, Siemens wrote "Records on Telegrams". After this paper was submitted to the Paris Institute of Science, it was well received by the experts and was included in the book Foreign Essays. Siemens also wrote his research experience on underground conductors into On Electrical Conductors and Instruments, which was published in Bergendoff Yearbook.
Of course, Siemens' work and career are not smooth sailing. According to his own practice and experience in technical application, he wrote the article "Experience on laying Prussian underground wires". This paper points out some practical problems in construction, and puts forward solutions and improvement measures for these problems. This would have been a good thing. Division actually backfired. The government's telegraph department thought that since there were various problems in laying underground wires, they should not be laid, so the original order of Siemens-Halske Company was cancelled. In this way, the paper written by Siemens out of scientific attitude has brought difficulties to its own company and greatly affected its operating efficiency.
However, Siemens-Halske's business abroad is going well. It has set up branches in London, Paris and Petersburg. As early as the end of 1850, Siemens accepted the invitation of the British government to lay cables in Britain and achieved great success. 1852, Siemens was invited to Russia to help set up telegraph lines. In Russia, Siemens presided over the laying of several trunk lines between Petersburg and Moscow, Moscow and Kiev, Kiev and Odessa, and also completed the lines between Petersburg and Warsaw and between Petersburg and Helsinki. Especially during the Crimean War, he completed the telegraph line to Sevastopol as quickly as possible. It is said that the news of the fall of fortress Sevastopol was reported to the tsar in time through this line.
Siemens 1855 returned to Berlin from Russia. At this time, the submarine cable from Suez to Aden failed. The British company responsible for laying this line asked Siemens for help in maintenance. Siemens will connect the test instrument developed by itself to the line for inspection and testing. The next day, he concluded: "The cable is 5 meters away from Aden? There is a problem with 556 kilometers. " Some engineers present at that time didn't believe it and thought Siemens was joking. It turns out that the cable in this place is really damaged. After Siemens repaired this place, the telegram was connected immediately.
Siemens focuses on its career and seldom considers its personal life. Perhaps it was for this reason that he didn't get married until he was 36. 1 852 65438+1October1,Siemens and miss Mathilde deluman got married in Koenigsberg. Then they went to Paris and other places and then returned to Berlin. At this time, Siemens-Halske company built a big factory in Berlin. They settled down in the front area of the factory.
The factory of Siemens-Halske Company still mainly produces telegrams, and at the same time, based on this technology, it begins to develop in other aspects. This is because, after Siemens came back from Russia, it said that it was "not interested in establishing telegraph lines". Therefore, from the late 1950s of 19, Siemens' research on telegraph communication technology and the laying of telegraph lines did not stop completely, but it made progress in a new direction.
Since the British physicist Faraday discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction in 183 1, many people have been developing generators. However, this work is progressing slowly. What is the main reason? That is, people only consider using permanent magnets to generate electricity, and do not consider using electromagnets to generate electricity. Even if someone has thought about this problem, they think that the permanent magnet itself is magnetic, so the coil generates current. The magnetism of electromagnet can only be produced by applying current; Only by rotating the coil of the generator can the electromagnet not produce magnetism, so there will be no current in the coil. This understanding was broken by Siemens.
Through research and experiments, Siemens found that instead of permanent magnets, electromagnets can also generate electricity on generators. This is because the iron core of electromagnet still has weak magnetism without current. When the coil rotates, this weak remanence can be used to generate current. The current is then fed back to the electromagnet to enhance its magnetic force. Therefore, electromagnets can generate strong magnetic force and strong current.
1866, Siemens reported the principle of the generator to the physicist Magnus and others, and conducted a successful test, which was affirmed by the Berlin Academy of Sciences. In the same year, Siemens manufactured a generator using electromagnets in the factory of Siemens-Halske Company according to its own research results. This kind of generator invented by Siemens is called self-excited DC generator. 1867, the first generator of Siemens was exhibited at the World Expo held in Paris. For this, he won the French Medal of Honor.
Siemens generators have improved the current intensity. Its successful development has promoted the research and improvement of the motor. Since 1970s, electric power has been applied in Germany, which has greatly changed people's production and life. Therefore, the invention of self-excited DC generator is a great contribution of Siemens in the development of electrical technology.
1867, Halske withdrew from Siemens-Halske. Since then, this company has become Siemens. Siemens will be headquartered in Berlin and set up branches in Britain, France, Russia and other countries. The British branch is located in London and is called "Siemens Brothers". Its factory specializes in producing all kinds of electrical equipment. Later, Siemens developed into a major electrical equipment manufacturer in Germany, playing a decisive role in the electrical industry.
Since the self-excited DC generator still has many shortcomings, Siemens continues to study and improve it. 1870, Artney, a researcher and engineer of Siemens, made a generator with better performance on the basis of Siemens generator. In order to overcome the shortcomings of DC generators, in 1873, Artne developed an alternator. At the same time, Siemens is constantly improving generators and creating new models. Siemens not only produces a large number of generators, but also develops motors. 1879, the electric motor-driven tram made by Siemens was publicly performed at the Berlin industrial exhibition. The tram can take 20 passengers and run on a 600-meter-long circular track at the speed of 12 km per hour, which makes visitors feel surprised, excited and amazed. As a result, trams began to run in Berlin.