November's Version

1) Общая лексика: ОАО (Public Limited Company (Naamloze Vennootschap/Société Anonyme))

2) Компьютерная техника: Name Value, Named Value

3) Морской термин: Naval Vessel

4) Военный термин: Non Verifiable, night vision, nonvolatile

5) Техника: nonvoting, number of voice channels in one transponder

6) Сельское хозяйство: neutralizing value, nutritive value

7) Шутливое выражение: November's Version

8) Химия: Non Volatile

9) Религия: Normal Version

10) Метеорология: Nevada Operations Office

11) Юридический термин: Non Violations

12) Бухгалтерия: No Value

13) Биржевой термин: No Vote

14) Сокращение: Naamloze Vennootschap (Belgium, Netherlands), Nevada (US state), Nevada, Normal Vetting (UK), navigation

15) Физиология: NeuroVascular, Non Visual, Not Vaccinated

16) Банковское дело: номинал (nominal value), номинальная стоимость (nominal value)

17) Транспорт: Neighborhood Vehicle

18) Пищевая промышленность: No Vinegar, Non Vintage

19) Фирменный знак: Naamloze Vennootschap

20) Деловая лексика: New Venture

21) Глоссарий компании Сахалин Энерджи: needle valve

22) Инвестиции: nominal value

23) Безопасность: New Variant

24) Расширение файла: No Overflow

25) Правительство: Northern Virginia

26) Программное обеспечение: Next Version

1) Общая лексика: ОАО (Public Limited Company (Naamloze Vennootschap/Société Anonyme))

2) Компьютерная техника: Name Value, Named Value

3) Морской термин: Naval Vessel

4) Военный термин: Non Verifiable, night vision, nonvolatile

5) Техника: nonvoting, number of voice channels in one transponder

6) Сельское хозяйство: neutralizing value, nutritive value

7) Шутливое выражение: November's Version

8) Химия: Non Volatile

9) Религия: Normal Version

10) Метеорология: Nevada Operations Office

11) Юридический термин: Non Violations

12) Бухгалтерия: No Value

13) Биржевой термин: No Vote

14) Сокращение: Naamloze Vennootschap (Belgium, Netherlands), Nevada (US state), Nevada, Normal Vetting (UK), navigation

15) Физиология: NeuroVascular, Non Visual, Not Vaccinated

16) Банковское дело: номинал (nominal value), номинальная стоимость (nominal value)

17) Транспорт: Neighborhood Vehicle

18) Пищевая промышленность: No Vinegar, Non Vintage

19) Фирменный знак: Naamloze Vennootschap

20) Деловая лексика: New Venture

21) Глоссарий компании Сахалин Энерджи: needle valve

22) Инвестиции: nominal value

23) Безопасность: New Variant

24) Расширение файла: No Overflow

25) Правительство: Northern Virginia

26) Программное обеспечение: Next Version

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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Frederick Handley Page trained as an electrical engineer but soon turned his attention to the more exciting world of aeronautics. He started by manufacturing propellers for aeroplanes and airships, and then in 1909 he founded a public company. His first aeroplane, the Bluebird, was not a success, but an improved version flew well. It was known as the "Yellow Peril" because of its yellow doped finish and made a notable flight across London from Barking to Brooklands. In 1910 Handley Page became one of the first college lecturers in aeronautical engineering. During the First World War Handley Page concentrated on the production of large bombers. The 0/100 was a biplane with a wing span of 100 ft (30 m) and powered by two engines: it entered service in 1916. In 1918 an improved version, the 0/400, entered service and a larger four-engined bomber made its first flight. This was the V/1500, which was designed to bomb Berlin, but the war ended before this raid took place. After the war, Handley Page turned his attention to airline operations with the great advantage of having at his disposal large bombers which could be adapted to carry passengers. Handley Page Air Transport Ltd was formed in 1919 and provided services to several European cities. Eventually this company became part of Imperial Airways, but Handley Page continued to supply them with large airliners. Probably the most famous was the majestic HP 42 four-engined biplane, which set very high standards of comfort and safety. Safety was always important to Handley Page and in 1920 he developed a wing with a slot along the leading edge: this made slow flying safer by delaying the stall. Later versions used separate aerofoil-shaped slats on the leading edge that were sometimes fixed, sometimes retractable. The HP 42 was fitted with these slats. From the 1930s Handley Page produced a series of bombers, such as the Heyford, Hampden, Harrow and, most famous of all, the Halifax, which played a major role in the Second World War. Then followed the Victor V-bomber of 1952 with its distinctive "crescent" wing and high tailplane. Sir Frederick's last venture was the Herald short-haul airliner of 1955; designed to replace the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3, it was only a limited success.

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back [bæk]

vers l'arrière ⇒ 1 (a) re + verbe ⇒ 1 (b), 1 (c) de derrière ⇒ 2 (a) arrière ⇒ 2 (a), 3 (g) dos ⇒ 3 (a)-(c), 3 (e), 3 (f) fond ⇒ 3 (d) reculer ⇒ 4 (a), 5 (a) financer ⇒ 4 (b) parier sur ⇒ 4 (c)

1 adverb

(a) (towards the rear) vers l'arrière, en arrière;

∎ he stepped back il a reculé d'un pas, il a fait un pas en arrière;

∎ I pushed back my chair j'ai reculé ma chaise;

∎ she tied her hair back elle a attaché ses cheveux;

∎ he glanced back il a regardé derrière lui;

∎ house set or standing back from the road maison écartée du chemin ou en retrait

(b) (into or in previous place)

∎ to come back revenir;

∎ to go back (return) retourner;

∎ to go or turn back (retrace footsteps) rebrousser chemin;

∎ American familiar to go back on sb (betray) doubler qn;

∎ we went back home nous sommes rentrés (à la maison);

∎ my headache's back j'ai de nouveau mal à la tête, mon mal de tête a recommencé;

∎ they'll be back on Monday ils rentrent ou ils seront de retour lundi;

∎ I'll be right back je reviens tout de suite;

∎ I'll be back (threat) vous me reverrez;

∎ we expect him back tomorrow il doit rentrer demain;

∎ as soon as you get back dès votre retour;

∎ is he back at work? a-t-il repris le travail?;

∎ he's just back from Moscow il arrive ou rentre de Moscou;

∎ we went to town and back nous avons fait un saut en ville;

∎ he went to his aunt's and back il a fait l'aller et retour chez sa tante;

∎ the trip to Madrid and back takes three hours il faut trois heures pour aller à Madrid et revenir;

∎ meanwhile, back in Washington entre-temps, à Washington;

∎ back home, there's no school on Saturdays chez moi ou nous, il n'y a pas d'école le samedi;

∎ Commerce the back-to-school sales les soldes fpl de la rentrée

(c) (indicating return to previous state)

∎ she wants her children back elle veut qu'on lui rende ses enfants;

∎ he went back to sleep il s'est rendormi;

∎ business soon got back to normal les affaires ont vite repris leur cours normal;

∎ miniskirts are coming back (in fashion) les minijupes reviennent à la mode

(d) (earlier)

∎ six pages back six pages plus haut;

∎ back in the 17th century au 17ème siècle;

∎ as far back as I can remember d'aussi loin que je m'en souvienne;

∎ back in November déjà au mois de novembre;

∎ familiar ten years back il y a dix ans^□

(e) (in reply, in return)

∎ you should ask for your money back vous devriez demander un remboursement ou qu'on vous rembourse;

∎ I hit him back je lui ai rendu son coup;

∎ if you kick me I'll kick you back si tu me donnes un coup de pied, je te le rendrai;

∎ she smiled back at him elle lui a répondu par un sourire;

∎ to write back répondre (par écrit);

∎ to get one's own back (on sb) prendre sa revanche (sur qn);

∎ that's her way of getting back at you c'est sa façon de prendre sa revanche sur toi

2 adjective

(a) (rear → door, garden) de derrière; (→ wheel) arrière (inv); (→ seat) arrière (inv), de derrière;

∎ the back legs of a horse les pattes fpl arrière d'un cheval;

∎ back entrance entrée f située à l'arrière;

∎ the back room is the quietest la pièce qui donne sur l'arrière est la plus calme;

∎ the back page of the newspaper la dernière page du journal;

∎ to put sth on the back burner remettre qch à plus tard

(b) (quiet → lane, road) écarté, isolé

(c) (overdue) arriéré

(d) Linguistics (vowel) postérieur

3 noun

(a) (part of body) dos m;

∎ back pain mal m de dos;

∎ to have a back problem avoir des problèmes de dos;

∎ she carried her baby on her back elle portait son bébé sur son dos;

∎ I fell flat on my back je suis tombé à la renverse ou sur le dos;

∎ we lay on our backs nous étions allongés sur le dos;

∎ my back aches j'ai mal au dos;

∎ the cat arched its back le chat a fait le gros dos;

∎ I only saw them from the back je ne les ai vus que de dos;

∎ she sat with her back to the window elle était assise le dos tourné à la fenêtre;

∎ sitting with one's back to the light assis à contre-jour;

∎ he was sitting with his back to the wall il était assis, dos au mur;

∎ figurative to have one's back to the wall être au pied du mur;

∎ to turn one's back on sb tourner le dos à qn; figurative abandonner qn;

∎ when my back was turned quand j'avais le dos tourné;

∎ you had your back to me tu me tournais le dos;

∎ they have the police at their backs (in support) ils ont la police avec eux; (in pursuit) ils ont la police à leurs trousses;

∎ with an army at his back (supporting him) soutenu par une armée;

∎ to do sth behind sb's back faire qch dans le dos de qn;

∎ he laughs at you behind your back il se moque de vous quand vous avez le dos tourné ou dans votre dos;

∎ to talk about sb behind their back dire du mal de qn dans son dos;

∎ the decision was taken behind my back la décision a été prise derrière mon dos;

∎ he went behind my back to the boss il est allé voir le patron derrière mon dos ou à mon insu;

∎ to be flat on one's back (bedridden) être alité ou cloué au lit;

∎ familiar get off my back! fiche-moi la paix!;

∎ mind your backs! attention, s'il vous plaît!;

∎ the rich live off the backs of the poor les riches vivent sur le dos des pauvres;

∎ to put sb's back up énerver qn;

∎ to put one's back into sth mettre toute son énergie dans qch;

∎ familiar that's it, put your back into it! allez, un peu de nerf!;

∎ to put one's back out se faire mal au dos;

∎ I'll be glad to see the back of her je serai content de la voir partir ou d'être débarrassé d'elle

(b) (part opposite the front → gen) dos m, derrière m; (→ of coat, shirt, door) dos m; (→ of vehicle, building, head) arrière m; (→ of train) queue f; (→ of book) fin f;

∎ to sit in the back (of car) monter à l'arrière;

∎ to sit at the back (of bus) s'asseoir à l'arrière;

∎ the carriage at the back of the train la voiture en queue de ou du train;

∎ at the back of the book à la fin du livre;

∎ the garden is out or round the back le jardin se trouve derrière la maison;

∎ the dress fastens at the back or American in back la robe s'agrafe dans le dos;

∎ there was an advert on the back of the bus il y avait une publicité à l'arrière du bus;

∎ familiar she's got a face like the back of a bus elle est moche comme un pou

(c) (other side → of hand, spoon, envelope) dos m; (→ of carpet, coin, medal) revers m; (→ of fabric) envers m; (→ of page) verso m; Finance (→ of cheque) dos m, verso m;

∎ I know this town like the back of my hand je connais cette ville comme ma poche;

∎ familiar you'll feel the back of my hand in a minute! tu vas en prendre une!

(d) (farthest from the front → of cupboard, room, stage) fond m;

∎ back of the mouth arrière-bouche f;

∎ back of the throat arrière-gorge f;

∎ we'd like a table at the or in the very back nous voudrions une table tout au fond;

∎ familiar in the back of beyond en pleine brousse, au diable vauvert;

∎ it was always there at the back of his mind that… l'idée ne le quittait pas que…;

∎ it's something to keep at the back of your mind c'est quelque chose à ne pas oublier;

∎ I've had it or it's been at the back of my mind for ages j'y pense depuis longtemps, ça fait longtemps que ça me travaille

(e) (binding) dos m

(f) (of chair) dos m, dossier m

(g) Sport arrière m;

∎ (full) back arrière m;

∎ right/left back arrière m droit/gauche

4 transitive verb

(a) (move backwards → bicycle, car) reculer; (→ horse) faire reculer; (→ train) refouler;

∎ I backed the car into the garage j'ai mis la voiture dans le garage en marche arrière;

∎ she backed him into the next room elle l'a fait reculer dans la pièce d'à côté

(b) Commerce (support financially → company, venture) financer, commanditer; Finance (→ loan) garantir;

∎ Finance to back a bill avaliser ou endosser un effet

(c) (encourage → efforts, person, venture) encourager, appuyer, soutenir; Politics (→ candidate, bill) soutenir;

∎ we backed her in her fight against racism nous l'avons soutenue dans sa lutte contre le racisme;

(d) (bet on) parier sur, miser sur;

∎ Sport to back a winner (horse, team) parier ou miser sur un gagnant; Finance & Commerce (company, stock) bien placer son argent; figurative jouer la bonne carte;

∎ figurative to back the wrong horse parier ou miser sur le mauvais cheval

(e) Textiles (strengthen, provide backing for → curtain, material) doubler; (→ picture, paper) renforcer

(f) Music (accompany) accompagner

(g) Nautical (sail) masquer

5 intransitive verb

(a) (go in reverse → car, train) faire marche arrière; (→ horse, person) reculer;

∎ the car backed into the driveway la voiture est entrée en marche arrière dans l'allée;

∎ I backed into my neighbour's car je suis rentré dans la voiture de mon voisin en reculant;

∎ I backed into a corner je me suis retiré dans un coin

(b) (wind) tourner en sens inverse des aiguilles d'une montre

6 back and forth adverb

∎ to go back and forth (person) faire des allées et venues; (machine, piston) faire un mouvement de va-et-vient;

∎ his eyes darted back and forth il regardait de droite à gauche

7 back to front adverb

devant derrière, à l'envers;

∎ you've got your pullover on back to front tu as mis ton pull devant derrière

8 in back of preposition

American derrière

►► Technology back boiler = ballon d'eau chaude situé derrière un foyer;

Press back copy vieux numéro m;

Australian & New Zealand back country campagne f, arrière-pays m inv;

back door (of building) porte f de derrière; Finance financement m déguisé;

∎ figurative to get in through or by the back door être pistonné;

(a) (of car, bus) arrière m; (of train) queue f

(b) North of England (autumn) arrière-saison f, automne m;

∎ the back end of the year l'arrière-saison;

Linguistics back formation dérivation f régressive;

American back haul = trajet de retour d'un camion;

Finance back interest arrérages mpl, intérêts mpl arriérés;

Press back issue vieux numéro m;

Golf the back nine les neuf derniers trous mpl;

Press back number vieux numéro m;

Banking back office back-office m;

back office staff personnels mpl de back-office;

Commerce back orders commandes fpl en souffrance;

back page dernière page f;

Football back pass passe f en retrait;

back passage Anatomy rectum m; (alley) ruelle f;

back pay rappel m de salaire;

Cinema & Theatre back projection rétroprojection f;

back rent arriéré m de loyer;

back road petite route f;

back room (in house) pièce f de derrière; (in shop) arrière-boutique f; (for research) laboratoire m de recherche secret;

back seat siège m arrière;

∎ figurative to take a back seat (job, project) passer au second plan; (person) s'effacer;

back shift (people) = équipe du soir;

∎ I hate the back shift je déteste être du soir;

∎ to work or be on the back shift être (de l'équipe) du soir;

Linguistics back slang ≃ verlan m;

back straight ligne f (droite) d'en face;

back street petite rue f;

∎ I grew up in the back streets of Chicago j'ai été élevé dans les mauvais quartiers de Chicago;

Horseracing back stretch (on race course) ligne f d'en face;

American familiar back talk impertinence^□ f, insolence^□ f;

Finance back taxes arriéré m d'impôts

➲ back away intransitive verb

(a) (car) faire marche arrière

(b) (person) (se) reculer;

∎ she backed away from him elle a reculé devant lui;

∎ figurative they have backed away from making a decision ils se sont abstenus de prendre une décision

➲ back down intransitive verb

(accept defeat → in argument) admettre qu'on est dans son tort; (→ in conflict) faire marche arrière;

∎ he finally backed down on the issue of membership il a fini par céder sur la question de l'adhésion

➲ back off intransitive verb

(a) (withdraw) reculer;

∎ familiar figurative back off, will you! fiche-moi la paix!, lâche-moi les baskets!

(b) American (accept defeat → in argument) admettre qu'on est dans son tort; (→ in conflict) faire marche arrière

➲ back onto inseparable transitive verb

(have back facing towards) donner sur (à l'arrière);

∎ the house backs onto the river l'arrière de la maison donne sur la rivière

➲ back out intransitive verb

(a) (car) sortir en marche arrière; (person) sortir à reculons

(b) figurative (withdraw) se dérober, tirer son épingle du jeu;

∎ don't back out now! ne faites pas marche arrière maintenant!;

∎ they backed out of the deal ils se sont retirés de l'affaire;

∎ to back out of a contract se rétracter ou se retirer d'un contrat;

∎ he's trying to back out (of it) il voudrait se dédire

➲ back up

1 intransitive verb

(a) (car) faire marche arrière

(b) (drain) se boucher; (water) refouler

2 separable transitive verb

(a) (car, horse) faire reculer; (train) refouler

(b) (support → claim, story) appuyer, soutenir; (→ person) soutenir, épauler, seconder;

∎ to back sb up in an argument donner raison à qn;

∎ her story is backed up by eye witnesses sa version des faits est confirmée par des témoins oculaires;

∎ he backed this up with a few facts il a étayé ça avec quelques faits

(c) Computing (data, file) sauvegarder

(d) (accumulate)

∎ traffic is backed up for 5 miles ≃ il y a un embouteillage sur 8 km

3 intransitive verb

Computing sauvegarder

✾ Film 'Back to the Future' Zemeckis 'Retour vers le futur'

SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy

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Agricola was a physician, scientist and metallurgist of note and it was this which led to the publication of De Re Metallica. He studied at Leipzig University and between 1518 and 1522 he was a school teacher in Zwickau. Eventually he settled as a physician in Chemnitz. Later he continued his medical practice at Joachimstal in the Erzgebirge. This town was newly built to serve the mining community in what was at the time the most important ore-mining field in both Germany and Europe.

As a physician in the sixteenth century he would naturally have been concerned with the development of medicines, which would have led him to research the medical properties of ores and base metals. He studied the mineralogy of his area, and the mines, and the miners who were working there. He wrote several books in Latin on geology and mineralogy. His important work during that period was a glossary of mineralogical and mining terms in both Latin and German. It is, however, De Re Metallica for which he is best known. This large volume contains twelve books which deal with mining and metallurgy, including an account of glassmaking. Whilst one can understand the text of this book very easily, the quality of the illustrative woodcuts should not be neglected. These illustrations detail the mines, furnaces, forges and the plant associated with them, unfortunately the name of the artist is unknown. The importance of the work lies in the fact that it is an assemblage of information on all the methods and practices current at that time. The book was clearly intended as a textbook of mining and mineralogy and as such it would have been brought to England by German engineers when they were employed by the Mines Royal in the Keswick area in the late sixteenth century. In addition to his studies in preparation for De Re Metallica, Agricola was an "adventurer" holding shares in the Gottesgab mine in the Erzegebirge.

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SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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Cayley was born into a well-to-do Yorkshire family living at Brompton Hall. He was encouraged to study mathematics, navigation and mechanics, particularly by his mother. In 1792 he succeeded to the baronetcy and took over the daunting task of revitalizing the run-down family estate.

The first aeronautical device made by Cayley was a copy of the toy helicopter invented by the Frenchmen Launoy and Bienvenu in 1784. Cayley's version, made in 1796, convinced him that a machine could "rise in the air by mechanical means", as he later wrote. He studied the aerodynamics of flight and broke away from the unsuccessful ornithopters of his predecessors. In 1799 he scratched two sketches on a silver disc: one side of the disc showed the aerodynamic force on a wing resolved into lift and drag, and on the other side he illustrated his idea for a fixed-wing aeroplane; this disc is preserved in the Science Museum in London. In 1804 he tested a small wing on the end of a whirling arm to measure its lifting power. This led to the world's first model glider, which consisted of a simple kite (the wing) mounted on a pole with an adjustable cruciform tail. A full-size glider followed in 1809 and this flew successfully unmanned. By 1809 Cayley had also investigated the lifting properties of cambered wings and produced a low-drag aerofoil section. His aim was to produce a powered aeroplane, but no suitable engines were available. Steam-engines were too heavy, but he experimented with a gunpowder motor and invented the hot-air engine in 1807. He published details of some of his aeronautical researches in 1809–10 and in 1816 he wrote a paper on airships. Then for a period of some twenty-five years he was so busy with other activities that he largely neglected his aeronautical researches. It was not until 1843, at the age of 70, that he really had time to pursue his quest for flight. The Mechanics' Magazine of 8 April 1843 published drawings of "Sir George Cayley's Aerial Carriage", which consisted of a helicopter design with four circular lifting rotors—which could be adjusted to become wings—and two pusher propellers. In 1849 he built a full-size triplane glider which lifted a boy off the ground for a brief hop. Then in 1852 he proposed a monoplane glider which could be launched from a balloon. Late in 1853 Cayley built his "new flyer", another monoplane glider, which carried his coachman as a reluctant passenger across a dale at Brompton, Cayley became involved in public affairs and was MP for Scarborough in 1832. He also took a leading part in local scientific activities and was co-founder of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1831 and of the Regent Street Polytechnic Institution in 1838.

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SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology

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Having completed his studies at the Technological Institute in Stockholm and the Mining School at Falun, Crælius was awarded a grant by the Swedish Jernkontoret and in 1879 he travelled to Germany, France and Belgium in order to study technological aspects of the mining, iron and steel industries. In the same year he went to the United States, where he worked with an iron works in Colorado and a mining company in Nevada. In 1884, having returned to Sweden, he obtained an appointment in the Norberg mines; two years later, he took up employment at the Ängelsberg oilmill.

His mining experience had shown him the demand for a reliable, handy and cheap method of drilling, particularly for prospecting purposes. He had become acquainted with modern drilling methods in America, possibly including Albert Fauck's drilling jar. In 1886, Crælius designed his first small-diameter drill, which was assembled in one unit. Its rotating boring rod, smooth on the outside, was fixed inside a hollow mandrel which could be turned in any direction. This first drill was hand-driven, but the hydraulic version of it became the prototype for all near-surface prospecting drills in use worldwide in the late twentieth century.

Between 1890 and 1900 Crælius was managing director of the Morgårdshammar mechanical workshops, where he was able to continue the development of his drilling apparatus. He successfully applied diesel engines in the 1890s, and in 1895 he added diamond crowns to the drill. The commercial exploitation of the invention was carried out by Svenska Diamantbergborrings AB, of which Crælius was a director from its establishment in 1886.

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See also: Fauvelle, Pierre-Pascal

SUBJECT AREA: Horology

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Graham's father died soon after his birth, so he was raised by his brother. In 1688 he was apprenticed to the London clockmaker Henry Aske, and in 1695 he gained his freedom. He was employed as a journeyman by Tompion in 1696 and later married his niece. In 1711 he formed a partnership with Tompion and effectively ran the business in Tompion's declining years; he took over the business after Tompion died in 1713. In addition to his horological interests he also made scientific instruments, specializing in those for astronomical use. As a person, he was well respected and appears to have lived up to the epithet "Honest George Graham". He befriended John Harrison when he first went to London and lent him money to further his researches at a time when they might have conflicted with his own interests.

The two common forms of escapement in use in Graham's time, the anchor escapement for clocks and the verge escapement for watches, shared the same weakness: they interfered severely with the free oscillation of the pendulum and the balance, and thus adversely affected the timekeeping. Tompion's two frictional rest escapements, the dead-beat for clocks and the horizontal for watches, had provided a partial solution by eliminating recoil (the momentary reversal of the motion of the timepiece), but they had not been successful in practice. Around 1720 Graham produced his own much improved version of the dead-beat escapement which became a standard feature of regulator clocks, at least in Britain, until its supremacy was challenged at the end of the nineteenth century by the superior accuracy of the Riefler clock. Another feature of the regulator clock owed to Graham was the mercury compensation pendulum, which he invented in 1722 and published four years later. The bob of this pendulum contained mercury, the surface of which rose or fell with changes in temperature, compensating for the concomitant variation in the length of the pendulum rod. Graham devised his mercury pendulum after he had failed to achieve compensation by means of the difference in expansion between various metals. He then turned his attention to improving Tompion's horizontal escapement, and by 1725 the cylinder escapement existed in what was virtually its final form. From the following year he fitted this escapement to all his watches, and it was also used extensively by London makers for their precision watches. It proved to be somewhat lacking in durability, but this problem was overcome later in the century by using a ruby cylinder, notably by Abraham Louis Breguet. It was revived, in a cheaper form, by the Swiss and the French in the nineteenth century and was produced in vast quantities.

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See also: Barlow, Edward; Guillaume, Charles-Edouard

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace, Weapons and armour

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Maxim was born the son of a pioneer farmer who later became a wood turner. Young Maxim was first apprenticed to a carriage maker and then embarked on a succession of jobs before joining his uncle in his engineering firm in Massachusetts in 1864. As a young man he gained a reputation as a boxer, but it was his uncle who first identified and encouraged Hiram's latent talent for invention.

It was not, however, until 1878, when Maxim joined the first electric-light company to be established in the USA, as its Chief Engineer, that he began to make a name for himself. He developed an improved light filament and his electric pressure regulator not only won a prize at the first International Electrical Exhibition, held in Paris in 1881, but also resulted in his being made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. While in Europe he was advised that weapons development was a more lucrative field than electricity; consequently, he moved to England and established a small laboratory at Hatton Garden, London. He began by investigating improvements to the Gatling gun in order to produce a weapon with a faster rate of fire and which was more accurate. In 1883, by adapting a Winchester carbine, he successfully produced a semi-automatic weapon, which used the recoil to cock the gun automatically after firing. The following year he took this concept a stage further and produced a fully automatic belt-fed weapon. The recoil drove barrel and breechblock to the vent. The barrel then halted, while the breechblock, now unlocked from the former, continued rearwards, extracting the spent case and recocking the firing mechanism. The return spring, which it had been compressing, then drove the breechblock forward again, chambering the next round, which had been fed from the belt, as it did so. Keeping the trigger pressed enabled the gun to continue firing until the belt was expended. The Maxim gun, as it became known, was adopted by almost every army within the decade, and was to remain in service for nearly fifty years. Maxim himself joined forces with the large British armaments firm of Vickers, and the Vickers machine gun, which served the British Army during two world wars, was merely a refined version of the Maxim gun.

Maxim's interests continued to occupy several fields of technology, including flight. In 1891 he took out a patent for a steam-powered aeroplane fitted with a pendulous gyroscopic stabilizer which would maintain the pitch of the aeroplane at any desired inclination (basically, a simple autopilot). Maxim decided to test the relationship between power, thrust and lift before moving on to stability and control. He designed a lightweight steam-engine which developed 180 hp (135 kW) and drove a propeller measuring 17 ft 10 in. (5.44 m) in diameter. He fitted two of these engines into his huge flying machine testrig, which needed a wing span of 104 ft (31.7 m) to generate enough lift to overcome a total weight of 4 tons. The machine was not designed for free flight, but ran on one set of rails with a second set to prevent it rising more than about 2 ft (61 cm). At Baldwyn's Park in Kent on 31 July 1894 the huge machine, carrying Maxim and his crew, reached a speed of 42 mph (67.6 km/h) and lifted off its rails. Unfortunately, one of the restraining axles broke and the machine was extensively damaged. Although it was subsequently repaired and further trials carried out, these experiments were very expensive. Maxim eventually abandoned the flying machine and did not develop his idea for a stabilizer, turning instead to other projects. At the age of almost 70 he returned to the problems of flight and designed a biplane with a petrol engine: it was built in 1910 but never left the ground.

In all, Maxim registered 122 US and 149 British patents on objects ranging from mousetraps to automatic spindles. Included among them was a 1901 patent for a foot-operated suction cleaner. In 1900 he became a British subject and he was knighted the following year. He remained a larger-than-life figure, both physically and in character, until the end of his life.

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See also: Pilcher, Percy Sinclair

CM / JDS

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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Son of a successful mining engineer, Sopwith did not shine at school and, having been turned down by the Royal Navy as a result, attended an engineering college. His first interest was motor cars and, while still in his teens, he set up a business in London with a friend in order to sell them; he also took part in races and rallies.

Sopwith's interest in aviation came initially through ballooning, and in 1906 he purchased his own balloon. Four years later, inspired by the recent flights across the Channel to France and after a joy-ride at Brooklands, he bought an Avis monoplane, followed by a larger biplane, and taught himself to fly. He was awarded the Royal Aero Society's Aviator Certificate No. 31 on 21 November 1910, and he quickly distinguished himself in flying competitions on both sides of the Atlantic and started his own flying school. In his races he was ably supported by his friend Fred Sigrist, a former motor engineer. Among the people Sopwith taught to fly were an Australian, Harry Hawker, and Major Hugh Trenchard, who later became the "father" of the RAF.

In 1912, depressed by the poor quality of the aircraft on trial for the British Army, Sopwith, in conjunction with Hawker and Sigrist, bought a skating rink in Kingston-upon-Thames and, assisted by Fred Sigrist, started to design and build his first aircraft, the Sopwith Hybrid. He sold this to the Royal Navy in 1913, and the following year his aviation manufacturing company became the Sopwith Aviation Company Ltd. That year a seaplane version of his Sopwith Tabloid won the Schneider Trophy in the second running of this speed competition. During 1914–18, Sopwith concentrated on producing fighters (or "scouts" as they were then called), with the Pup, the Camel, the 1½ Strutter, the Snipe and the Sopwith Triplane proving among the best in the war. He also pioneered several ideas to make flying easier for the pilot, and in 1915 he patented his adjustable tailplane and his 1 ½ Strutter was the first aircraft to be fitted with air brakes. During the four years of the First World War, Sopwith Aviation designed thirty-two different aircraft types and produced over 16,000 aircraft.

The end of the First World War brought recession to the aircraft industry and in 1920 Sopwith, like many others, put his company into receivership; none the less, he immediately launched a new, smaller company with Hawker, Sigrist and V.W.Eyre, which they called the H.G. Hawker Engineering Company Ltd to avoid any confusion with the former company. He began by producing cars and motor cycles under licence, but was determined to resume aircraft production. He suffered an early blow with the death of Hawker in an air crash in 1921, but soon began supplying aircraft to the Royal Air Force again. In this he was much helped by taking on a new designer, Sydney Camm, in 1923, and during the next decade they produced a number of military aircraft types, of which the Hart light bomber and the Fury fighter, the first to exceed 200 mph (322 km/h), were the best known. In the mid-1930s Sopwith began to build a large aviation empire, acquiring first the Gloster Aircraft Company and then, in quick succession, Armstrong-Whitworth, Armstrong-Siddeley Motors Ltd and its aero-engine counterpart, and A.V.Roe, which produced Avro aircraft. Under the umbrella of the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company (set up in 1935) these companies produced a series of outstanding aircraft, ranging from the Hawker Hurricane, through the Avro Lancaster to the Gloster Meteor, Britain's first in-service jet aircraft, and the Hawker Typhoon, Tempest and Hunter. When Sopwith retired as Chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group in 1963 at the age of 75, a prototype jump-jet (the P-1127) was being tested, later to become the Harrier, a for cry from the fragile biplanes of 1910.

Sopwith also had a passion for yachting and came close to wresting the America's Cup from the USA in 1934 when sailing his yacht Endeavour, which incorporated a number of features years ahead of their time; his greatest regret was that he failed in his attempts to win this famous yachting trophy for Britain. After his retirement as Chairman of the Hawker Siddeley Group, he remained on the Board until 1978. The British aviation industry had been nationalized in April 1977, and Hawker Siddeley's aircraft interests merged with the British Aircraft Corporation to become British Aerospace (BAe). Nevertheless, by then the Group had built up a wide range of companies in the field of mechanical and electrical engineering, and its board conferred on Sopwith the title Founder and Life President.

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CM / JDS

SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour

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At the age of 14 Whitehead was apprenticed by his father, who ran a cotton-bleaching business, to an engineering firm in Manchester. He moved in 1847 to join his uncle, who was the Manager of another engineering firm, and three years later Whitehead set up on his own in Milan, where he made mechanical improvements to the silk-weaving industry and designed drainage machines for the Lombardy marshes.

In 1848 he was forced to move from Italy because of the revolution and settled in Fiume, which was then part of Austria. There he concen-. trated on designing and building engines for warships, and in 1864 the Austrians invited him to participate in a project to develop a "floating torpedo". In those days the torpedo was synonymous with the underwater mine, and Whitehead believed that he could do better than this proposal and produce an explosive weapon that could propel itself through the water. He set to work with his son John and a mechanic, producing the first version of his torpedo in 1866. It had a range of only 700 yd (640 m) and a speed of just 7 knots (13 km/h), as well as depth-keeping problems, but even so, especially after he had reduced the last problem by the use of a "balance chamber", the Austrian authorities were sufficiently impressed to buy construction rights and to decorate him. Other navies quickly followed suit and within twenty years almost every navy in the world was equipped with the Whitehead torpedo, its main attraction being that no warship, however large, was safe from it. During this time Whitehead continued to improve on his design, introducing a servo-motor and gyroscope, thereby radically improving range, speed and accuracy.

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