Stages of team development

Catatan dari elearning :

STAGES OF TEAM DEVELOPMENT

1. FORMING : roles, responsibility, excited, enthusiastic, anxious.

2. STORMING : conflicts, difficult, maybe productive,

3. NORMING: relationship gel, trust, focus on team than conflicts

4. PERFORMING: manage complex tasks, work twd common goals,. Comfortable w each other, work thru disagreement.

5. ADJOURNING : winding down, goals reached. Break up after achieving goals.

Fountain pen pertama ...

[Gambar hanya ilustrasi. Bukan pen yang dimaksudkan]

Salah satu dari ciptaan era keunggulan tamaddun Islam yang telah memberi manfaat yang begitu banyak kepada manusia pada hari ini adalah pen berdakwat ( fountain pen ).

Khalifah Ma'ad al- Mu'izz di Mesir minta supaya dapat dibuat pen yang boleh menyimpan dakwat di dalamnya dan tidak mengalir keluar ketika tidak digunakan. Beberapa hari kemudian tukang-tukang di istananya telah membuat sebatang pen yang terdapat penyimpan dakwat padanya dan dakwat itu pula dialirkan ke mata pena mengikut tarikan graviti dan sedutan pembuluh yang mengalirkan dakwat tanpa berlaku tirisan.

Qadi al-Nu'man at-Tamimi, seorang ahli sejarah rasmi ketika itu menulis di dalam bukunya "Kitabul Majalis wal Musayarat' (The Book of Sessions and Excursions) menukilkan bahawa Khalifah telah memerintahkan pembuatan pen itu dengan perintah seperti berikut :

"Beta berhasrat membuat pen yang boleh digunakan untuk menulis tanpa perlu berulang-ulang mencelupkannya dalam bekas dakwat dan dakwatnya pula tersimpan di dalam (pen) itu sendiri. Pemakainya boleh mengisi dakwat di dalamnya dan menulis apa sahaja yang ia kehendaki. Orang yang menulis dengannya boleh menyimpannya di lengan baju atau di mana sahaja yang dia hendak tanpa takut terkena kesan dakwat atau takut dakwatnya bocar keluar dari pen. Dakwatnya hanya keluar jika memang diperlukan untuk menulis. Beta tak tahu sama ada seseorang sebelum ini pernah mencipta pen seperti ini dan petunjuk kepada kebijaksanaan yang boleh menerobos sesiapa sahaja yang merenunginya dan merealisasikan dengan tepat kepentingan dan tujuannya. Lalu aku bertanya,"Bolehkah perkara ini dilakukan?" Baginda menjawab, "Ia boleh dilakukan dengan izin Allah !"

Namun demikian, hanya beberapa abad kemudian, pada tahun 1636, perekacipta German bernama Daniel Schwenter menggambarkan sebatang pen yang mempunyai simpanan dakwat.

Rujukan : http://www.shininghistory.com/2009/05/fountain-pen.html

Early attempts to measure the earth's circumference

Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Biruni, often referred to as al-Biruni( 973-1048 ), was the first scientist to provide a mathematical solution for determining the circumference of the earth.

Prior to al-Biruni, the first successful attempt to determine the circumference of earth was carried out in the early 9th century on the desire of Khalifah al-Makmun,. In 820 A.D., al-Makmun sent a team of astronomers in the desert of Sinjar ( in Iraq ) that performed the survey and estimated that one degree of earth was equivalent to 56 2/3 Arab miles. Conversion of this value gives the circumference of earth as 39,986 km ... quite close to the modern value of 40,075 (circumference if measured around the equator).

Al-Biruni described the above incident in his astronomical encyclopaedia 'al-Qanuni al-Masudi'. He devised a new method to determine circumference which he described in his work 'Kitab Tahdid al-Amakin' ( Book of Determining the Locations) in which he described :

"Here is another method to determine the circumference of the earth. It does not require walking in deserts."

Al-Biruni's method used the following trigonometric equation to determine the radius of the earth and required observing the distant horizon from a mountain peak.

R = h cos d / (1-cos d)

R : Radius of the earth
h : Height of the mountain
d : Angle of the dip

The details of this method are present in his book 'Kitab Tahdid al-Amakin'. He had constructed his own astrolabe to measure the heights of mountains. Al-Biruni found the radius of the earth to be 6,339.9 km. The circumference, according to his method, is 39,835 km quite close to the present accepted value.

Al-Biruni's method can be considered as one of the earliest examples of application of trigonometry to real-world problems. He is, therefore, regarded as the 'Father of Geodesy'.

Professor John J. O'connor and Edmund F. Robertson in 'The MacTutor Histoy of Mathematics Archive':

"Important contributions to geodesy and geography were also made by al-Biruni. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using triangulation. He found the radius of the earth to be 6339.6, a value cannot obtained in the West until the 16th century. His Masudic canon contains a table giving the coordinates of six hundred places, almost all of which he had direct knowledge."


http://www.shininghistory.com/2009/10/determination-of-earths-circumference.html