Maritime Industry Authority

m ministry

( gabinetto) government, ministry

pubblico ministero state prosecutor

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ministero s.m.

1 (ufficio, funzione) office, function; (eccl.) ministry: un alto ministero, a high office; svolgere un ministero di pace, to carry out a mission of peace // il sacro ministero, the (sacred) ministry

2 (ministero, dipartimento amministrativo dello Stato) Ministry, Office, Board; (negli Stati Uniti) Department // ministero dell'aeronautica, (GB) Air Ministry, (USA) Department of the Air Force // ministero degli (affari) esteri, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (GB) Foreign Office, (USA) Department of State // ministero degli (affari) interni, Ministry of the Interior, (GB) Home Office, (USA) Department of the Interior // ministero per gli affari sociali, (in Italia) Ministry for Social Affairs // ministero dell'agricoltura e foreste, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, (GB) Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, (USA) Department of Agriculture // ministero dell'ambiente, Ministry of the Environment, (GB) Department of the Environment // ministero per le aree urbane, (in Italia) Ministry for Urban Development and Rehabilitation // ministero dei beni culturali, (in Italia) Ministry for Arts and Culture // ministero del bilancio, Ministry of the Budget, (GB) the Treasury, (USA) Office of Management and Budget // ministero del commercio con l'estero, Ministry of Foreign Trade, (GB) Overseas Trade Ministry, (USA) US International Trade Commission // ministero della difesa, Ministry of Defence, (USA) Department of Defense // ministero delle finanze, Ministry of Finance, (GB) Exchequer (o Ministry of Finance), (USA) Department of the Treasury // ministero della funzione pubblica, (in Italia) Ministry for the Civil Service // ministero di grazia e giustizia, Ministry of Justice, (USA) Department of Justice // ministero della guerra, Ministry of War, (GB) War Office, (USA) Department of War // ministero dell'industria, commercio e artigianato, Ministry of Industry and Trade, (GB) Department of Trade and Industry, (USA) Department of Commerce // ministero del lavoro e della previdenza sociale, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, (GB) Department of Employment, (USA) Department of Labor // ministero dei lavori pubblici, (in Italia) Ministry of Public Works // ministero della Marina, Ministry of the Navy, (GB) Admiralty, (USA) Department of the Navy // ministero della marina mercantile, Ministry of the Merchant Marine, (GB) Marine Division of the Department of Trade, (USA) Maritime Administration of the Department of Commerce // ministero delle partecipazioni statali, Ministry of State Investment, (GB) National Enterprise Board // ministero per le politiche comunitarie, (nei paesi della CEE) Ministry for EEC Policy // ministero delle poste e telecomunicazioni, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, (GB) Post Office Board, (USA) Post Office Department // ministero della protezione civile, Ministry for Civil Defence, (USA) (a livello nazionale, ma non in qualità di ministero) Federal Emergency Board // ministero della pubblica istruzione, Ministry of Education, (GB) Department of Education and Science, (USA) Department of Health, Education and Welfare // ministero per i rapporti col parlamento, (in Italia) Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs // ministero della ricerca scientifica e tecnologica, (in Italia) Ministry of Scientific Research and Technology // ministero della sanità, della salute, Ministry of Health, (GB) Department of Health, (USA) Department of Health, Education and Welfare // ministero del tesoro, Ministry of the Treasury, (GB) the Treasury, (USA) Department of the Treasury // ministero dei trasporti e dell'aviazione civile, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, (GB) Department of Transport and Civil Aviation Authority, (USA) Department of Transportation // ministero del turismo e dello spettacolo, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, (GB) British Tourist Authority, (USA) United States Travel Service (of the Department of Commerce)

3 (Consiglio dei Ministri, governo) government, ministry; (Gabinetto) Cabinet: ministero radicale, radical government; fece parte del ministero Crispi, he served in Crispi's ministry; formare un ministero, to form a government (o a ministry o a Cabinet)

4 (dir.) pubblico ministero, Public Prosecutor; (amer.) Prosecuting Attorney; District Attorney: la difesa e il pubblico ministero, the Defence and the Prosecution.

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sostantivo maschile

1) pol. (governo) ministry, government

2) pol. (dicastero, edificio) ministry; (in GB) Office, Department; (negli USA) Department

3) dir.

4) relig.

•

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ministero

/minis'tεro/

sostantivo m.

 1 pol. (governo) ministry, government

 2 pol. (dicastero, edificio) ministry; (in GB) Office, Department; (negli USA) Department

 3 dir. pubblico ministero public prosecutor BE, prosecuting attorney AE

 4 relig. ministero sacerdotale ministry

COMPOUNDS

ministero dell'ambiente (in GB) Department o Ministry of the Environment; ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali = ministry of cultural heritage and environmental conservation; ministero della difesa (in GB) Ministry of Defence; (negli USA) Department of Defense; ministero degli (affari) esteri = foreign ministry, ministry of foreign affairs; ministero delle finanze = finance ministry; ministero di grazia e giustizia = ministry of Justice; (negli USA) Justice Department; ministero dell'interno (in GB) Home Office; (negli USA) Department of the Interior; ministero del lavoro = ministry of Employment; (negli USA) Labor Department; ministero delle poste e telecomunicazioni = postal and telecommunications ministry; ministero della pubblica istruzione = ministry of education; ministero della sanità (in GB) Department of Health; (negli USA) Department of Health and Human Services; ministero del tesoro (in GB) Treasury; (negli USA) Treasury Department; ministero dei trasporti (in GB) Ministry of Transport; (negli USA) Department of Transportation; ministero dell'università e della ricerca scientifica e tecnologica = ministry of university and of scientific and technological research.

SUBJECT AREA: Horology, Ports and shipping

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John Harrison was the son of a carpenter and was brought up to that trade. He was largely self-taught and learned mechanics from a copy of Nicholas Saunderson's lectures that had been lent to him. With the assistance of his younger brother, James, he built a series of unconventional clocks, mainly of wood. He was always concerned to reduce friction, without using oil, and this influenced the design of his "grasshopper" escapement. He also invented the "gridiron" compensation pendulum, which depended on the differential expansion of brass and steel. The excellent performance of his regulator clocks, which incorporated these devices, convinced him that they could also be used in a sea dock to compete for the longitude prize. In 1714 the Government had offered a prize of £20,000 for a method of determining longitude at sea to within half a degree after a voyage to the West Indies. In theory the longitude could be found by carrying an accurate timepiece that would indicate the time at a known longitude, but the requirements of the Act were very exacting. The timepiece would have to have a cumulative error of no more than two minutes after a voyage lasting six weeks.

In 1730 Harrison went to London with his proposal for a sea clock, supported by examples of his grasshopper escapement and his gridiron pendulum. His proposal received sufficient encouragement and financial support, from George Graham and others, to enable him to return to Barrow and construct his first sea clock, which he completed five years later. This was a large and complicated machine that was made out of brass but retained the wooden wheelwork and the grasshopper escapement of the regulator clocks. The two balances were interlinked to counteract the rolling of the vessel and were controlled by helical springs operating in tension. It was the first timepiece with a balance to have temperature compensation. The effect of temperature change on the timekeeping of a balance is more pronounced than it is for a pendulum, as two effects are involved: the change in the size of the balance; and the change in the elasticity of the balance spring. Harrison compensated for both effects by using a gridiron arrangement to alter the tension in the springs. This timekeeper performed creditably when it was tested on a voyage to Lisbon, and the Board of Longitude agreed to finance improved models. Harrison's second timekeeper dispensed with the use of wood and had the added refinement of a remontoire, but even before it was tested he had embarked on a third machine. The balance of this machine was controlled by a spiral spring whose effective length was altered by a bimetallic strip to compensate for changes in temperature. In 1753 Harrison commissioned a London watchmaker, John Jefferys, to make a watch for his own personal use, with a similar form of temperature compensation and a modified verge escapement that was intended to compensate for the lack of isochronism of the balance spring. The time-keeping of this watch was surprisingly good and Harrison proceeded to build a larger and more sophisticated version, with a remontoire. This timekeeper was completed in 1759 and its performance was so remarkable that Harrison decided to enter it for the longitude prize in place of his third machine. It was tested on two voyages to the West Indies and on both occasions it met the requirements of the Act, but the Board of Longitude withheld half the prize money until they had proof that the timekeeper could be duplicated. Copies were made by Harrison and by Larcum Kendall, but the Board still continued to prevaricate and Harrison received the full amount of the prize in 1773 only after George III had intervened on his behalf.

Although Harrison had shown that it was possible to construct a timepiece of sufficient accuracy to determine longitude at sea, his solution was too complex and costly to be produced in quantity. It had, for example, taken Larcum Kendall two years to produce his copy of Harrison's fourth timekeeper, but Harrison had overcome the psychological barrier and opened the door for others to produce chronometers in quantity at an affordable price. This was achieved before the end of the century by Arnold and Earnshaw, but they used an entirely different design that owed more to Le Roy than it did to Harrison and which only retained Harrison's maintaining power.

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See also: Burgi, Jost; Huygens, Christiaan