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We had met earlier

Толкование Перевод

1 ♦ earlier

♦ earlier /ˈɜ:lɪə(r)/
A a. (compar. di ► early)

1 precedente; anteriore; di prima; trascorso; passato: earlier events, fatti precedenti; my earlier attempt, il mio tentativo precedente; I'll catch an earlier train, prenderò un treno prima; at an earlier date, precedentemente; prima; in earlier days, in passato; un tempo; in earlier times, in epoche precedenti; in tempi passati; in earlier years, in anni passati; anni prima

2 iniziale; primo ( di due o di due parti); precedente: in the earlier chapters of the book, nel capitoli iniziali (o nei primi capitoli) del libro; Picasso's earlier work, la prima produzione di Picasso; le opere giovanili di Picasso

B avv.

1 più presto; prima; in anticipo: earlier than usual, prima del solito; ten minutes earlier, dieci minuti prima; con un anticipo di dieci minuti; no earlier than 1950, non prima del 1950; Can you make it earlier?, ti è possibile prima?; possiamo anticipare?

2 in precedenza; precedentemente; prima; anteriormente: ten hours earlier, dieci ore prima; As I said earlier, come ho detto prima; We had met earlier, ci eravamo incontrati in precedenza; earlier this year, in precedenza quest'anno.

English-Italian dictionary > ♦ earlier
2 Watt, James

SUBJECT AREA: Steam and internal combustion engines

[br]

b. 19 January 1735 Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland

d. 19 August 1819 Handsworth Heath, Birmingham, England

[br]

Scottish engineer and inventor of the separate condenser for the steam engine.

[br]

The sixth child of James Watt, merchant and general contractor, and Agnes Muirhead, Watt was a weak and sickly child; he was one of only two to survive childhood out of a total of eight, yet, like his father, he was to live to an age of over 80. He was educated at local schools, including Greenock Grammar School where he was an uninspired pupil. At the age of 17 he was sent to live with relatives in Glasgow and then in 1755 to London to become an apprentice to a mathematical instrument maker, John Morgan of Finch Lane, Cornhill. Less than a year later he returned to Greenock and then to Glasgow, where he was appointed mathematical instrument maker to the University and was permitted in 1757 to set up a workshop within the University grounds. In this position he came to know many of the University professors and staff, and it was thus that he became involved in work on the steam engine when in 1764 he was asked to put in working order a defective Newcomen engine model. It did not take Watt long to perceive that the great inefficiency of the Newcomen engine was due to the repeated heating and cooling of the cylinder. His idea was to drive the steam out of the cylinder and to condense it in a separate vessel. The story is told of Watt's flash of inspiration as he was walking across Glasgow Green one Sunday afternoon; the idea formed perfectly in his mind and he became anxious to get back to his workshop to construct the necessary apparatus, but this was the Sabbath and work had to wait until the morrow, so Watt forced himself to wait until the Monday morning.

Watt designed a condensing engine and was lent money for its development by Joseph Black, the Glasgow University professor who had established the concept of latent heat. In 1768 Watt went into partnership with John Roebuck, who required the steam engine for the drainage of a coal-mine that he was opening up at Bo'ness, West Lothian. In 1769, Watt took out his patent for "A New Invented Method of Lessening the Consumption of Steam and Fuel in Fire Engines". When Roebuck went bankrupt in 1772, Matthew Boulton, proprietor of the Soho Engineering Works near Birmingham, bought Roebuck's share in Watt's patent. Watt had met Boulton four years earlier at the Soho works, where power was obtained at that time by means of a water-wheel and a steam engine to pump the water back up again above the wheel. Watt moved to Birmingham in 1774, and after the patent had been extended by Parliament in 1775 he and Boulton embarked on a highly profitable partnership. While Boulton endeavoured to keep the business supplied with capital, Watt continued to refine his engine, making several improvements over the years; he was also involved frequently in legal proceedings over infringements of his patent.

In 1794 Watt and Boulton founded the new company of Boulton \& Watt, with a view to their retirement; Watt's son James and Boulton's son Matthew assumed management of the company. Watt retired in 1800, but continued to spend much of his time in the workshop he had set up in the garret of his Heathfield home; principal amongst his work after retirement was the invention of a pantograph sculpturing machine.

James Watt was hard-working, ingenious and essentially practical, but it is doubtful that he would have succeeded as he did without the business sense of his partner, Matthew Boulton. Watt coined the term "horsepower" for quantifying the output of engines, and the SI unit of power, the watt, is named in his honour.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

FRS 1785. Honorary LLD, University of Glasgow 1806. Foreign Associate, Académie des Sciences, Paris 1814.

Further Reading

H.W.Dickinson and R Jenkins, 1927, James Watt and the Steam Engine, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

L.T.C.Rolt, 1962, James Watt, London: B.T. Batsford.

R.Wailes, 1963, James Watt, Instrument Maker (The Great Masters: Engineering Heritage, Vol. 1), London: Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

IMcN

Biographical history of technology > Watt, James
3 only

adj. enig
--------
adv. slechts, alleen, maar
--------
conj. maar

only¹

[ oonlie] 〈 bijvoeglijk naamwoord〉

1 enig

2 best ⇒ (meest) geschikt, juist

♦voorbeelden:

1   an only child • een enig kind

     we were the only people wearing hats • we waren de enigen met een hoed (op)

     the only thing now is to call the police • het enige wat je nu nog kunt doen, is er de politie bijhalen

     his one and only friend • zijn enige echte vriend

     my one and only hope • de enige hoop die me nog rest

2   I think boxing is the only sport • voor mij is de bokssport helemaal het einde

¶ you're not the only pebble on the beach • je bent niet alleen op de wereld; er zijn ook nog anderen te krijgen

————————

only²

〈 bijwoord〉

1 slechts ⇒ alleen (maar), maar, enkel

2 〈 bij tijdsbepalingen〉 pas ⇒ (maar) eerst, nog

♦voorbeelden:

1   only think! • stel je voor!

     I've only just enough money • ik heb maar net genoeg geld

     she was only too glad • ze was maar al te blij

     only five minutes more • nog vijf minuten, niet meer

     if and only if • als en alleen als

     if only • als … maar, ik wou dat …

     if only you had come earlier! • was je maar wat vroeger gekomen!

     if only to/because • al was het alleen maar om

     we walked for two hours, only to find out that … • we liepen twee uur, maar enkel om te ontdekken dat …

2   the train has only just left • de trein is nog maar net weg

     she told me only last week that … • ze vertelde het me vorige week nog dat …

     he arrived only yesterday • hij arriveerde gisteren pas

————————

only³

〈 voegwoord〉

1 alleen ⇒ maar

♦voorbeelden:

1   I like it, only I cannot afford it • ik vind het mooi, maar ik kan het niet betalen

     I could have gone, only my mother was ill • ik had kunnen gaan als mijn moeder niet ziek was geweest

     I would have phoned, only I didn't know your number • ik zou gebeld hebben maar ik had je nummer niet

English-Dutch dictionary > only
4 before

1. adverb
1) (of time) vorher; zuvor

the day before — am Tag zuvor

long before — lange vorher od. zuvor

not long before — kurz vorher

the noise continued as before — der Lärm ging nach wie vor weiter

you should have told me so before — das hättest du mir vorher od. früher od. eher sagen sollen

I've seen that film before — ich habe den Film schon [einmal] gesehen

I've heard that before — das habe ich schon einmal gehört

2) (ahead in position) vor[aus]

3) (in front) voran
2. preposition
1) (of time) vor (+ Dat.)

the day before yesterday — vorgestern

the year before last — vorletztes Jahr

the year before that — das Jahr davor

it was [well] before my time — das war [lange] vor meiner Zeit

since before the war — schon vor dem Krieg

before now — vorher; früher

before Christ — vor Christus; vor Christi Geburt

he got there before me — er war vor mir da

before then — vorher

before long — bald

before leaving, he phoned/I will phone — bevor er wegging, rief er an/bevor ich weggehe, rufe ich an

before tax — brutto; vor [Abzug (Dat.) der] Steuern

2) (position) vor (+ Dat.); (direction) vor (+ Akk.)

before my very eyes — vor meinen Augen

go before a court of law — vor ein Gericht kommen

appear before the judge — vor dem Richter erscheinen; see also academic.ru/11106/carry">carry 1. 1)

3) (awaiting)

have one's life before one — sein Leben noch vor sich (Dat.) haben; (confronting)

the matter before us — das uns (Dat.) vorliegende Thema

the task before us — die Aufgabe, die vor uns (Dat.) liegt

4) (more important than) vor (+ Dat.)

he puts work before everything — die Arbeit ist ihm wichtiger als alles andere
3. conjunction
bevor

it'll be ages before I finish this — es wird eine Ewigkeit dauern, bis ich damit fertig bin

* * *
[bi'fo:] 1. preposition
1) (earlier than: before the war; He'll come before very long.) (be-)vor

2) (in front of: She was before me in the queue.) vor

3) (rather than: Honour before wealth.) vor
2. adverb
(earlier: I've seen you before.) vorher
3. conjunction
(earlier than the time when: Before I go, I must phone my parents.) bevor

- beforehand

* * *

be·fore

[bɪˈfɔ:ʳ, AM -ˈfɔ:r]

I. prep

1. (at previous time to) vor + dat

I need to go \before 2 pm ich muss vor 2 Uhr gehen

wash your hands \before the meal wasch dir vor dem Essen die Hände

\before leaving he said goodbye to each of them vor seiner Abfahrt verabschiedete er sich von jedem Einzelnen

\before everything else zuallererst

\before long in Kürze

\before now schon früher

\before the time zu früh

\before one's time vorzeitig

she has grown old \before her time sie ist vorzeitig gealtert

to be \before one's time seiner Zeit voraus sein

the day \before yesterday vorgestern

the year \before last/this vorletztes/letztes Jahr

just \before sth kurz vor etw dat

she always buys her Christmas presents just \before Christmas sie kauft ihre Weihnachtsgeschenke immer erst kurz vor Weihnachten

2. (in front of) vor + dat; with verbs of motion vor + akk; (encountered first) vor + dat

the letter K comes \before L der Buchstabe K kommt vor dem L

the patterns swam \before her eyes die Zeichen verschwammen vor ihren Augen

there is a large sign \before the house vor dem Haus ist ein großes Schild

the bus stop is just \before the school die Bushaltestelle befindet sich direkt vor der Schule

3. (higher ranking) vor + dat

many mothers put their children's needs \before their own viele Mütter stellen die Bedürfnisse ihrer Kinder über ihre eigenen

I'd go to prison \before asking her for money ich würde eher ins Gefängnis gehen, als sie um Geld zu bitten

for me family is \before everything die Familie geht mir über alles

4. (in presence of) vor + dat

he stood up \before the audience er stand vor dem Publikum auf

it happened \before her very eyes es geschah vor ihren Augen

5. (for examination, consideration) vor + dat

our case is coming \before the court this week unser Fall kommt diese Woche vor Gericht

6. (in future) vor + dat

the task \before us die Aufgabe, vor der wir stehen

to lie \before one vor jdm liegen

to have sth \before one etw vor sich dat haben

you have your whole future \before you du hast noch deine ganze Zukunft vor dir

II. conj

1. (at previous time) bevor

\before you criticize me,... bevor du mich kritisierst,...

she was waiting long \before it was time sie wartete schon lange, bevor es soweit war

right [or just] \before... kurz bevor...

just \before she left the house,... als sie gerade das Haus verlassen wollte,...

but \before I knew it, she was gone doch ehe ich mich versah, war sie schon verschwunden

2. (rather than) bevor, ehe

\before they testified against their friends, they said they'd go to jail sie würden eher ins Gefängnis gehen, als gegen ihre Freunde auszusagen, meinten sie

they would die \before they would cooperate with each other sie würden lieber sterben als miteinander zusammenzuarbeiten

3. (until) bis

it was an hour \before the police arrived es dauerte eine Stunde, bis die Polizei eintraf

\before we got the test results back, a month had gone by wir warteten einen Monat auf die Testergebnisse

it will be two weeks \before he arrives er wird erst in zwei Wochen eintreffen

▪ not \before erst wenn, nicht eher als bis

you can't go \before you've finished du kannst erst gehen, wenn du fertig bist

4. (so that) damit

you must say the password at the door \before they'll let you in du musst an der Tür das Kennwort sagen, damit sie dich hineinlassen

III. adv inv

1. (earlier, previously) zuvor, vorher

I have never seen that \before das habe ich noch nie gesehen

have you been to Cologne \before? waren Sie schon einmal in Köln?

haven't we met \before? haben wir uns nicht schon einmal gesehen?

that has never happened \before das ist [bisher] noch nie passiert

she has seen it all \before sie kennt das alles schon

to be as \before wie früher sein

life went on as \before das Leben ging wieder seinen gewohnten Gang

\before and after davor und danach

2. (in front) vorn

\before and behind vorn und hinten

IV. adj after n zuvor

the day \before, it had rained tags zuvor hatte es geregnet

the year \before it had been rather quiet das Vorjahr war ganz ruhig verlaufen

read this line and the one \before lies diese Zeile und die vorhergehende [o davor]

* * *
[bɪ'fɔː(r)]
1. prep

1) (= earlier than) vor (+dat)

the year before last/this — vorletztes/letztes Jahr, das vorletzte/letzte Jahr

the day before yesterday — vorgestern

the day/time before that — der Tag/die Zeit davor

before Christ ( abbr BC ) — vor Christi Geburt

I got/was here before you — ich war vor dir da

that was before my time — das war vor meiner Zeit

he died before his time — er ist früh gestorben

to be before sb/sth — vor jdm/etw liegen

before then — vorher

before now — früher, eher, vorher

you should have done it before now — das hättest du schon (eher) gemacht haben sollen

before long — bald

before everything else — zuallererst

2) (in order, rank) vor (+dat)

to come before sb/sth — vor jdm/etw kommen

before everything — die Ehre geht mir über alles, für mich ist die Ehre das Wichtigste

ladies before gentlemen — Damen haben den Vortritt

3) (in position) vor (+dat); (with movement) vor (+acc)

before my (very) eyes — vor meinen Augen

to sail before the wind (Naut) — vor dem Wind segeln

4) (= in the presence of) vor (+dat)

he said it before us all — er sagte das vor uns allen

before God/a lawyer — vor Gott/einem Anwalt

to appear before a court/judge — vor Gericht/einem Richter erscheinen

5)

(= rather than) death before surrender — eher or lieber tot als sich ergeben

he would die before betraying his country — er würde eher sterben als sein Land verraten

2. adv

1) (in time = before that) davor; (= at an earlier time, before now) vorher

have you been to Scotland before? — waren Sie schon einmal in Schottland?

I have seen/read etc this before — ich habe das schon einmal gesehen/gelesen etc

never before — noch nie

(on) the evening/day before — am Abend/Tag davor or zuvor or vorher

(in) the month/year before — im Monat/Jahr davor

two hours before — zwei Stunden vorher

two days before — zwei Tage davor or zuvor

to continue as before (person) — (so) wie vorher weitermachen

things continued as before — alles war wie gehabt

life went on as before — das Leben ging seinen gewohnten Gang

2)

(= ahead) to march on before — vorausmarschieren

3) (indicating order) davor

that chapter and the one before — dieses Kapitel und das davor

3. conj

1) (in time) bevor

before doing sth — bevor man etw tut

you can't go before this is done — du kannst erst gehen, wenn das gemacht ist

it will be six weeks before the boat comes again — das Boot wird erst in sechs Wochen wiederkommen

it will be a long time before he comes back — es wird lange dauern, bis er zurückkommt

2)

(= rather than) he will die before he surrenders — eher will er sterben als sich geschlagen geben

* * *

before [bıˈfɔː(r); US auch bıˈfəʊər]

A adv

1. (räumlich) vorn, voran…:

go before vorangehen

2. (zeitlich) vorher, zuvor, vormals, früher (schon), bereits, schon:

an hour before eine Stunde vorher oder früher;

long before lange vorher oder zuvor;

the year before das vorhergehende oder das vorige Jahr;

haven’t I seen you before? habe ich Sie nicht schon einmal gesehen?;

haven’t we met before? kennen wir uns nicht?

B präp

1. (räumlich) vor (akk oder dat):

before my eyes vor meinen Augen;

he sat before me er saß vor mir;

the question before us die (uns) vorliegende Frage

2. vor (dat), in Gegenwart von (oder gen):

before witnesses vor Zeugen

3. (zeitlich) vor (dat):

the week before last vorletzte Woche;

before long in Kürze, bald;

what is before us was (in der Zukunft) vor uns liegt;

three minutes before nine US drei Minuten vor neun; → Christ A

4. (Reihenfolge, Rang) vor (akk oder dat):

be before the others den anderen (in der Schule etc) voraus sein

C konj

1. bevor, bis, ehe:

not before nicht früher oder eher als bis, erst als, erst wenn

2. lieber oder eher …, als dass:

I would die before I lied ( oder before lying) eher oder lieber will ich sterben als lügen

bef. abk before

* * *
1. adverb
1) (of time) vorher; zuvor

the day before — am Tag zuvor

long before — lange vorher od. zuvor

not long before — kurz vorher

the noise continued as before — der Lärm ging nach wie vor weiter

you should have told me so before — das hättest du mir vorher od. früher od. eher sagen sollen

I've seen that film before — ich habe den Film schon [einmal] gesehen

I've heard that before — das habe ich schon einmal gehört

2) (ahead in position) vor[aus]

3) (in front) voran
2. preposition
1) (of time) vor (+ Dat.)

the day before yesterday — vorgestern

the year before last — vorletztes Jahr

the year before that — das Jahr davor

it was [well] before my time — das war [lange] vor meiner Zeit

since before the war — schon vor dem Krieg

before now — vorher; früher

before Christ — vor Christus; vor Christi Geburt

he got there before me — er war vor mir da

before then — vorher

before long — bald

before leaving, he phoned/I will phone — bevor er wegging, rief er an/bevor ich weggehe, rufe ich an

before tax — brutto; vor [Abzug (Dat.) der] Steuern

2) (position) vor (+ Dat.); (direction) vor (+ Akk.)

before my very eyes — vor meinen Augen

go before a court of law — vor ein Gericht kommen

appear before the judge — vor dem Richter erscheinen; see also carry 1. 1)

3) (awaiting)

have one's life before one — sein Leben noch vor sich (Dat.) haben; (confronting)

the matter before us — das uns (Dat.) vorliegende Thema

the task before us — die Aufgabe, die vor uns (Dat.) liegt

4) (more important than) vor (+ Dat.)

he puts work before everything — die Arbeit ist ihm wichtiger als alles andere
3. conjunction
bevor

it'll be ages before I finish this — es wird eine Ewigkeit dauern, bis ich damit fertig bin

* * *

(after) tax expr.

vor (nach)

Abzug der Steuern ausdr. adv.

bevor adv.

eh adv.

voran adv.

vorher adv.

vorn adv. prep.

vor präp.

English-german dictionary > before
5 previous

'pri:viəs
adjective

(earlier in time or order: on a previous occasion; the previous owner of the house.) anterior

- previously
- previous to

previous adj anterior

my previous car was Japanese mi coche anterior era japonés

previous

tr['priːvɪəs]

adjective

1 previo,-a, anterior

■ the previous day el día anterior

■ previous experience experiencia previa

■ a previous engagement un compromiso previo

\

SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALL

previous to antes de, anterior a

previous convictions antecedentes nombre masculino plural penales

previous ['pri:viəs] adj

: previo, anterior

previous knowledge: conocimientos previos

the previous day: el día anterior

in the previous year: en el año pasado

previous

adj.

• anterior adj.

• previo, -a adj.

'priːviəs
adjective

a) ( earlier) (before n) <occasion/attempt/page> anterior; <experience/knowledge> previo

on the previous day — el día anterior, la víspera

I had a previous engagement — ya tenía un compromiso, tenía un compromiso previo

b)

previous to — (as prep) anterior a

previous to this — anteriormente

['priːvɪǝs]
1. ADJ

1) (=former, earlier) [night, day, year, page] anterior; [experience] previo

• we met by previous arrangement — nos reunimos acordando una cita previa or mediante cita previa

• I have a previous engagement — tengo un compromiso previo

• in a previous incarnation or life — en una vida anterior

• on previous occasions — en ocasiones anteriores

• the car has had two previous owners — el coche ha pasado por dos manos

• in previous years — los años anteriores
conviction
2) * hum (=hasty) prematuro

this seems somewhat previous — esto parece algo prematuro

you were a bit previous in inviting him — te has precipitado un poco invitándole

2.

PREP

previous to: in the five years previous to 1992 — durante los cinco años anteriores a 1992

previous to that she had worked in London — antes de eso había trabajado en Londres

* * *
['priːviəs]
adjective

a) ( earlier) (before n) <occasion/attempt/page> anterior; <experience/knowledge> previo

on the previous day — el día anterior, la víspera

I had a previous engagement — ya tenía un compromiso, tenía un compromiso previo

b)

previous to — (as prep) anterior a

previous to this — anteriormente

English-spanish dictionary > previous
6 before

before ⇒ Usage note: before

A prep

1 ( earlier than) avant ; the day before yesterday avant-hier ; the day before the interview la veille de l'entretien ; I was there the week before last j'y étais il y a deux semaines ; they hadn't met since before the war ils ne s'étaient pas vus depuis avant la guerre ; it should have been done before now ça aurait dû être fait avant ; phone if you need me before then téléphonez-moi si vous avez besoin de moi avant ; six weeks before then six semaines avant or auparavant ; she became a doctor, like her mother before her elle est devenue médecin comme sa mère ; before long it will be winter ce sera bientôt l'hiver ; before long, he was speaking Spanish fluently très vite, il parlait l'espagnol couramment ; not before time! ce n'est pas trop tôt! ; it was long before your time c'était bien avant ta naissance ;

2 (in order, sequence, hierarchy) avant ; G comes before H in the alphabet dans l'alphabet le G est avant le H ; your name comes before mine on the list sur la liste ton nom est avant le mien ; the page before this one la page précédente ;

3 (in importance, priority) avant ; to put quality before quantity placer la qualité avant la quantité ; for him, work comes before everything else pour lui le travail passe avant tout ; should we place our needs before theirs? devrions-nous accorder plus d'importance à nos besoins qu'aux leurs? ; ladies before gentlemen honneur aux dames ;

4 ( this side of) avant ; turn left before the crossroads tournez à gauche avant le carrefour ;

5 ⇒ The clock US ( in time expressions) ten before six six heures moins dix ;

6 ( in front of) devant ; she appeared before them elle est apparue devant eux ; the desert stretched out before them le désert s'étendait devant eux ; before our very eyes sous nos propres yeux ; they fled before the invader ils ont fui devant l'envahisseur ;

7 ( in the presence of) devant ; he was brought before the king on l'a amené devant le roi ; to appear before a court comparaître devant un tribunal ; to put proposals before a committee présenter des projets à une commission ; to bring a bill before parliament présenter un projet de loi au parlement ;

8 ( confronting) face à ; they were powerless before such resistance ils étaient impuissants face à une telle résistance ; these are the alternatives before us voici les choix qui s'offrent à nous ; the task before us la tâche qui nous attend.

B adj précédent ; the day before la veille ; the week/the year before la semaine/l'année précédente ; this page and the one before cette page et la précédente.

C adv ( at an earlier time) avant ; as before comme avant ; before and after avant et après ; he had been there two months before il y était allé deux mois auparavant ; have you been to India before? est-ce que tu es déjà allé en Inde? ; I've never been there before je n'y suis jamais allé ; haven't we met before? on s'est déjà rencontré, il me semble? ; I've never seen him before in my life c'est la première fois que je le vois ; it's never happened before c'est la première fois que ça arrive ; long before bien avant.

D conj

1 ( in time) before I go, I would like to say that avant de partir, je voudrais dire que ; before he goes, I must remind him that avant qu'il parte, il faut que je lui rappelle que ; it was some time before she was able to walk again il lui a fallu un certain temps pour pouvoir marcher de nouveau ; before I had time to realize what was happening, he… avant que j'aie eu le temps de comprendre ce qui se passait, il… ; it will be years before I earn that much money! je ne gagnerai pas autant d'argent avant des années! ; oh, before I forget, did you remember to post that letter? avant que j'oublie, est-ce que tu as pensé à envoyer cette lettre? ;

2 ( rather than) plutôt que ; he would die before betraying that secret il mourrait plutôt que de révéler ce secret ;

3 (otherwise, or else) get out of here before I call the police! sortez d'ici ou j'appelle la police! ;

4 ( as necessary condition) pour que (+ subj) ; you have to show your ticket before they'll let you in il faut que tu montres ton ticket pour qu'ils te laissent entrer.

Idioms

before you could say Jack Robinson en moins de temps qu'il ne faut pour le dire, en moins de deux ○ ; before you know where you are… on n'a pas le temps de dire ouf que…

Big English-French dictionary > before
7 back

bæk
1. noun
1) (in man, the part of the body from the neck to the bottom of the spine: She lay on her back.) espalda

2) (in animals, the upper part of the body: She put the saddle on the horse's back.) lomo

3) (that part of anything opposite to or furthest from the front: the back of the house; She sat at the back of the hall.) parte trasera, fondo

4) (in football, hockey etc a player who plays behind the forwards.) defensa

2. adjective
(of or at the back: the back door.) de detrás, trasero

3. adverb
1) (to, or at, the place or person from which a person or thing came: I went back to the shop; He gave the car back to its owner.) de vuelta

2) (away (from something); not near (something): Move back! Let the ambulance get to the injured man; Keep back from me or I'll hit you!) hacia atrás, para atrás

3) (towards the back (of something): Sit back in your chair.) hacia atrás, para atrás

4) (in return; in response to: When the teacher is scolding you, don't answer back.) de vuelta

5) (to, or in, the past: Think back to your childhood.) atrás

4. verb
1) (to (cause to) move backwards: He backed (his car) out of the garage.) dar marcha atrás, mover hacia atrás

2) (to help or support: Will you back me against the others?) apoyar

3) (to bet or gamble on: I backed your horse to win.) apostar a

•

- backer
- backbite
- backbiting
- backbone
- backbreaking
- backdate
- backfire
- background
- backhand
5. adverb
(using backhand: She played the stroke backhand; She writes backhand.) del revés; con el dorso de la mano

- backlog
- back-number
- backpack
- backpacking: go backpacking
- backpacker
- backside
- backslash
- backstroke
- backup
- backwash
- backwater
- backyard
- back down
- back of
- back on to
- back out
- back up
- have one's back to the wall
- put someone's back up
- take a back seat

back¹ adj trasero / de atrás

the back garden el jardín de atrás

the back seat of the bus el asiento trasero del autobús

back² adv

1. atrás / hacia atrás

stand back! ¡atrás! / ¡apártate!

stand back from the edge apártate del precipicio

2. de vuelta

David's back David está de vuelta

on the way back home en el camino de vuelta a casa

platform shoes are back vuelven los zapatos de plataforma

3. hace

that was years back! ¡eso fue hace años!

we met back in 1983 nos conocimos en 1983 back también combina con muchos verbos. Aquí tienes algunos ejemplos

to come back volver

to go back volver

to give back devolver

to put back devolver a su sitio

back³ n

1. espalda

lie on your back échate de espaldas / échate boca arriba

2. dorso / revés

write your name on the back escribe tu nombre al dorso

3. parte de atrás / fondo

can you hear me at the back? ¿me escucháis al fondo?

there is an index at the back of the book hay un índice al final del libro

back to front al revés

your T shirt's back to front llevas la camiseta al revés

behind someone's back a las espaldas de alguien

you shouldn't talk about people behind their backs no deberías hablar de la gente a sus espaldas

to turn your back on someone volverle la espalda a alguien

back⁴ vb

1. apoyar / respaldar

the government backed the scheme el gobierno apoyó el proyecto

I'll back you up te respaldaré

2. dar marcha atrás

he backed the car into the garage metió el coche en el garaje de culo / metió el coche en el garaje dando marcha atrás

back

tr[bæk]

noun

1 (of person) espalda

2 (of animal, book) lomo

3 (of chair) respaldo

4 (of hand) dorso

5 (of knife, sword) canto

6 (of coin, medal) reverso

7 (of cheque) dorso

8 (of stage, room, cupboard) fondo

9 (sport - player) defensa nombre masulino o femenino; (- position) defensa

adjective

1 trasero,-a, de atrás

adverb

1 (at the rear) atrás; (towards the rear) hacia atrás; (time) hace

■ several years back hace varios años

transitive verb

1 (support) apoyar, respaldar

2 (finance) financiar

3 (bet on) apostar por

\

SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALL

back to back espalda con espalda

back to front al revés

to answer back replicar

to be back estar de vuelta

to be glad to see the back of somebody estar contento de haberse quitado a alguien de encima

to break one's back deslomarse

to carry on one's back llevar a cuestas

to fall on one's back caerse de espaldas

to have somebody on one's back tener a alguien encima

to come back / go back volver

to get somebody's back up mosquear a alguien

to get off somebody's back dejar de fastidiar a alguien

to hit back devolver el golpe 2 figurative use contestar a una acusación

to have one's back to the wall figurative use estar entre la espada y la pared

to lie on one's back estar acostado,-a boca arriba

to give back devolver

to put back volver a guardar en su sitio

to put one's back into something arrimar el hombro

to phone back volver a llamar

to stand back apartarse

to turn one's back on somebody volver la espalda a alguien

back copy número retrasado

back door puerta trasera

back number número atrasado

back pay atrasos nombre masculino plural

back row última fila

back seat asiento de atrás

back street callejuela

back wheel rueda trasera

short back and sides corte nombre masculino de pelo casi al rape

back ['bæk] vt

1) or to back up support: apoyar, respaldar

2) or to back up reverse: darle marcha atrás a (un vehículo)

3) : estar detrás de, formar el fondo de

trees back the garden: unos árboles están detrás del jardín

back vi

1) or to back up : retroceder

2)

to back away : echarse atrás

3)

to back downor to back out : volverse atrás, echarse para atrás

back adv

1) : atrás, hacia atrás, detrás

to move back: moverse atrás

back and forth: de acá para allá

2) ago: atrás, antes, ya

some years back: unos años atrás, ya unos años

10 months back: hace diez meses

3) : de vuelta, de regreso

we're back: estamos de vuelta

she ran back: volvió corriendo

to call back: llamar de nuevo

back adj

1) rear: de atrás, posterior, trasero

2) overdue: atrasado

3)

back pay : atrasos mpl

back n

1) : espalda f (de un ser humano), lomo m (de un animal)

2) : respaldo m (de una silla), espalda f (de ropa)

3) reverse: reverso m, dorso m, revés m

4) rear: fondo m, parte f de atrás

5) : defensa mf (en deportes)

back

adj.

• posterior adj.

• trasero, -a adj.

adv.

• atrás adv.

• detrás adv.

• redro adv.

n.

• atrás s.m.

• costilla s.f.

• dorso s.m.

• envés s.m.

• espalda s.f.

• espaldar s.m.

• fondo s.m.

• lomo s.m.

• respaldo s.m.

• reverso s.m.

• revés s.m.

• trasera s.f.

v.

• apadrinar v.

• mover hacia atrás v.

• respaldar v.

bæk
I

noun

1) c ( Anat) ( of human) espalda f; ( of animal) lomo m

he was lying on his back — estaba tumbado boca arriba

he had his back to the door — estaba de espaldas a la puerta

to break one's back working — deslomarse trabajando

I was glad to see the back of him — me alegré de que se fuera

behind somebody's back: they laugh at him behind his back se ríen de él a sus espaldas; to be on somebody's back (colloq) estarle* encima a alguien; get off my back! déjame en paz (fam); to break the back of something hacer* la parte más difícil/la mayor parte de algo; to get o put somebody's back up (colloq) irritar a alguien; to put one's back into something poner* empeño en algo; to turn one's back on somebody — volverle* la espalda a alguien; scratch II d)

2) c

a) ( of chair) respaldo m; (of dress, jacket) espalda f; (of electrical appliance, watch) tapa f

b) (reverse side - of envelope, photo) dorso m, revés m; (- of head) parte f posterior or de atrás; (- of hand) dorso m

read the instructions on the back — lea las instrucciones al dorso

c)

back to front: your sweater is on back to front — te has puesto el suéter al revés; hand I 2)

3) c u ( rear part)

the back of the hall — el fondo de la sala

the back of the house — la parte de atrás de la casa

at the back of the drawer — en el fondo del cajón

we sat at the back — nos sentamos al fondo

I'll sit in the back — ( of car) yo me siento detrás or (en el asiento de) atrás

there's a yard at the back — hay un patio atrás

we stood at the back of the line — nos pusimos al final de la cola

(in) back of the sofa — (AmE) detrás del sofá

he's out back in the yard — (AmE) está en el patio, al fondo

in the back of beyond — donde el diablo perdió el poncho (AmL fam), en el quinto pino (Esp fam)

4) c ( Sport) defensa mf, zaguero, -ra m,f

II

adjective (before n, no comp)

1) ( at rear) trasero, de atrás

the back row — la última fila

2) ( of an earlier date)

back number o issue — número m atrasado

back pay — atrasos mpl

III

adverb

1) (indicating return, repetition)

we can get there and back in an hour — podemos ir y volver en una hora

the journey back — el viaje de vuelta

I'll be back tomorrow — volveré mañana

he's back from Paris — ha vuelto de París

it's back to work on Monday — el lunes hay que volver al trabajo

the Democrats are back in power — los demócratas han vuelto al poder

long hair is back (in fashion) — vuelve (a estar de moda) el pelo largo

meanwhile, back at the house... — mientras tanto, en la casa...

to run/fly back — volver* corriendo/en avión

I'll drive you back — te llevo de vuelta en coche

we arrived back in York at six — regresamos a York a las seis

she came back out — volvió a salir

he asked for the ring back — pidió que le devolviera el anillo

he invited me back for coffee — me invitó a su casa a tomar un café

they had us back the following week — nos devolvieron la invitación la semana siguiente; see also go, take back

2) (in reply, reprisal)

he slapped her and she slapped him back — él la abofeteó y ella le devolvió la bofetada

3)

a) ( backward)

take two steps back — da dos pasos atrás

to travel back in time — viajar hacia atrás en el tiempo

b) ( toward the rear) atrás

we can't hear you back here — aquí atrás no te oímos; see also hold, keep back

4) (in, into the past)

back in 1972 — (ya) en 1972

a few years back — hace unos años

as far back as last June — ya en junio

5)

back and forth — = backward(s) and forward(s): see backward II d)

IV
1.

transitive verb

1)

a) \<\<person/decision\>\> respaldar, apoyar

b) ( bet money on) \<\<horse/winner\>\> apostar* por

2) ( reverse)

he backed the car out of the garage — sacó el coche del garaje dando marcha atrás or (Col, Méx) en reversa

3) ( lie behind)

a house backed by open fields — una casa cuyo fondo da a campo abierto

4) ( Mus) acompañar

2.

vi \<\<vehicle/driver\>\> dar* marcha atrás, echar or meter reversa (Col, Méx)

he backed into a lamppost — se dio contra una farola al dar marcha atrás or al meter reversa

Phrasal Verbs:

- back away

- back down

- back off

- back on to

- back out

- back up

[bæk] When back is an element in a phrasal verb, eg come back, go back, put back, look up the verb.
1. NOUN

1) (=part of body)

a) [of person] espalda f; [of animal] lomo m

• I've got a bad back — tengo la espalda mal, tengo un problema de espalda

• to shoot sb in the back — disparar a algn por la espalda

• he was lying on his back — estaba tumbado boca arriba

to carry sth/sb on one's back — llevar algo/a algn a la espalda

• to have one's back to sth/sb — estar de espaldas a algo/algn

with his back to the light — de espaldas a la luz

sitting back to back — sentados espalda con espalda

b)

- behind sb's back

they laughed at her behind her back — se rieron de ella a sus espaldas

she has been seeing David behind my back — ha estado viendo a David a mis espaldas

- break the back of sth

- get off sb's back

- get sb's back up

- live off the back of sb

- be on sb's back

my boss is always on my back — mi jefe siempre está encima mío

- on the back of sth

shares rose on the back of two major new deals — las acciones subieron a consecuencia de dos nuevos e importantes tratos

- put one's back into sth

- put one's back into doing sth

- put sb's back up

to see the back of sb —

I was glad to see the back of him — me alegró deshacerme de él

- the moment or as soon as your back is turned...

- have one's back to the wall
flat I, 1., 1), stab 1., 1)
2) (=reverse side) [of cheque, envelope] dorso m, revés m; [of hand] dorso m; [of head] parte f de atrás, parte f posterior more frm; [of dress] espalda f; [of medal] reverso m

write your name on the back — escriba su nombre en el reverso

the back of the neck — la nuca

to know sth like the back of one's hand —

I know Naples like the back of my hand — conozco Nápoles como la palma de la mano

3) (=rear) [of room, hall] fondo m; [of chair] respaldo m; [of car] parte f trasera, parte f de atrás; [of book] (=back cover) tapa f posterior; (=spine) lomo m

there was damage to the back of the car — la parte trasera or de atrás del coche resultó dañada

• at the back (of) — [+ building] en la parte de atrás (de); [+ cupboard, hall, stage] en el fondo (de)

there's a car park at the back — hay un aparcamiento en la parte de atrás

be quiet at the back! — ¡los de atrás guarden silencio!

they sat at the back of the bus — se sentaron en la parte de atrás del autobús, se sentaron al fondo del autobús

he's at the back of all this trouble — él está detrás de todo este lío *

ambition is at the back of it — la ambición es lo que ha causado todo esto *

this idea had been at the back of his mind for several days — esta idea le había estado varios días rondándole la cabeza

• the ship broke its back — el barco se partió por la mitad

• back to front — al revés

you've got your sweater on back to front — te has puesto el jersey al revés

• in back of the house — (US) detrás de la casa

in the back of the car — en la parte trasera del coche

I'll sit in the back — yo me sentaré detrás

• the toilet's out the back — el baño está fuera en la parte de atrás

• they keep the car round the back — dejan el coche detrás de la casa
beyond 2., mind 1., 1)
4) (Sport) (=defender) defensa mf

• the team is weak at the back — la defensa del equipo es débil

• left back — defensa mf izquierdo/a

• right back — defensa mf derecho/a

2. ADVERB

1) (in space) atrás

stand back! — ¡atrás!

keep (well) back! — (=out of danger) ¡quédate ahí atrás!

keep back! — (=don't come near me) ¡no te acerques!

meanwhile, back in London/back at the airport — mientras, en Londres/en el aeropuerto

he little suspected how worried they were back at home — qué poco sospechaba lo preocupados que estaban en casa

• back and forth — de acá para allá

to go back and forth — [person] ir de acá para allá

there were phone calls back and forth — se hicieron un montón de llamadas el uno al otro

• back from the road — apartado de la carretera

2) (in time)

some months back — hace unos meses

back in the 12th century — allá en el siglo XII

it all started back in 1980 — todo empezó ya en 1980, todo empezó allá en 1980 liter

I saw her back in August — la vi el agosto pasado

3) (=returned)

• to be back — volver

when/what time will you be back? — ¿cuándo/a qué hora vuelves?, ¿cuándo/a qué hora estarás de vuelta?

he's not back yet — aún no ha vuelto, aún no está de vuelta

the electricity is back — ha vuelto la electricidad

black is back (in fashion) — vuelve (a estar de moda) el negro, se vuelve a llevar el negro

• he went to Paris and back — fue a París y volvió

30 kilometres there and back — 30 kilómetros ida y vuelta

you can go there and back in a day — puedes ir y volver en un día

• she's now back at work — ya ha vuelto al trabajo

the kids will be back at school tomorrow — los niños vuelven al colegio mañana

• I'll be back by 6 — estaré de vuelta para las 6

• I'd like it back — quiero que me lo devuelvan

• full satisfaction or your money back — si no está totalmente satisfecho, le devolvemos el dinero

• everything is back to normal — todo ha vuelto a la normalidad

• I want it back — quiero que me lo devuelvan
hit back
3. TRANSITIVE VERB

1) (=reverse) [+ vehicle] dar marcha atrás a

she backed the car into the garage — entró el coche en el garaje dando marcha atrás

he backed the car into a wall — dio marcha atrás y chocó con un muro

2) (=support)

a) (=back up) [+ plan, person] apoyar

they found a witness to back his claim — encontraron un testigo que apoyó lo que decía

b) (=finance) [+ person, enterprise] financiar

c) (Mus) [+ singer] acompañar

3) (=bet on) [+ horse] apostar por

I'm backing Manchester to win — yo apuesto por que va a ganar el Manchester

to back the wrong horse — (lit) apostar por el caballo perdedor

Russia backed the wrong horse in him — (fig) Rusia se ha equivocado al apoyar a él

to back a winner — (lit) apostar por el ganador

he is confident that he's backing a winner — (fig) (person) está seguro de que está dando su apoyo a un ganador; (idea, project) está seguro de que va a funcionar bien

4) (=attach backing to) [+ rug, quilt] forrar

4. INTRANSITIVE VERB

1) [person]

a) (in car) dar marcha atrás

she backed into me — dio marcha atrás y chocó conmigo

b) (=step backwards) echarse hacia atrás, retroceder

he backed into a table — se echó hacia atrás y se dio con una mesa, retrocedió y se dio con una mesa

2) (=change direction) [wind] cambiar de dirección (en sentido contrario a las agujas del reloj)

5. ADJECTIVE

1) (=rear) [leg, pocket, wheel] de atrás, trasero

the back row — la última fila

2) (=previous, overdue) [rent, tax, issue] atrasado

6.

COMPOUNDS

back alley N — callejuela f (que recorre la parte de atrás de una hilera de casas)

back boiler N — caldera f pequeña (detrás de una chimenea)

back burner N — quemador m de detrás

- put sth on the back burner

back catalogue N — (Mus) catálogo m de grabaciones discográficas

back copy N — (Press) número m atrasado

the back country N — (US) zona f rural (con muy baja densidad de población)
back-country
back cover N — contraportada f

back door N — puerta f trasera

- do sth by or through the back door

back flip N — voltereta f hacia atrás

back formation N — (Ling) derivación f regresiva

back garden N — (Brit) jardín m trasero

back lot N — (Cine) exteriores mpl (del estudio); [of house, hotel, company premises] solar m trasero

back marker N — (Brit) (Sport) competidor(a) m / f rezagado(-a)

back matter N — [of book] apéndices mpl

back number N — [of magazine, newspaper] número m atrasado

back page N — contraportada f

back pain N — dolor m de espalda, dolor m lumbar

back passage N — (Brit) euph recto m

back pay N — atrasos mpl

back rest N — respaldo m

back road N — carretera f comarcal, carretera f secundaria

back room N — cuarto m interior; (fig) lugar donde se hacen investigaciones secretas

back rub N — (=massage) masaje m en la espalda

• to give sb a back rub — masajearle la espalda a algn, darle un masaje a algn en la espalda

back seat N — asiento m trasero, asiento m de atrás

- take a back seat

back somersault N — salto m mortal hacia atrás

back stop N — (Sport) red que se coloca alrededor de una cancha para impedir que se escapen las pelotas

back talk * N (US) — = backchat

back tooth N — muela f

back view N —

the back view of the hotel is very impressive — el hotel visto desde atrás es impresionante, la parte de atrás del hotel es impresionante

back vowel N — (Ling) vocal f posterior

- back away

- back down

- back off

- back on to

- back out

- back up

* * *
[bæk]
I

noun

1) c ( Anat) ( of human) espalda f; ( of animal) lomo m

he was lying on his back — estaba tumbado boca arriba

he had his back to the door — estaba de espaldas a la puerta

to break one's back working — deslomarse trabajando

I was glad to see the back of him — me alegré de que se fuera

behind somebody's back: they laugh at him behind his back se ríen de él a sus espaldas; to be on somebody's back (colloq) estarle* encima a alguien; get off my back! déjame en paz (fam); to break the back of something hacer* la parte más difícil/la mayor parte de algo; to get o put somebody's back up (colloq) irritar a alguien; to put one's back into something poner* empeño en algo; to turn one's back on somebody — volverle* la espalda a alguien; scratch II d)

2) c

a) ( of chair) respaldo m; (of dress, jacket) espalda f; (of electrical appliance, watch) tapa f

b) (reverse side - of envelope, photo) dorso m, revés m; (- of head) parte f posterior or de atrás; (- of hand) dorso m

read the instructions on the back — lea las instrucciones al dorso

c)

back to front: your sweater is on back to front — te has puesto el suéter al revés; hand I 2)

3) c u ( rear part)

the back of the hall — el fondo de la sala

the back of the house — la parte de atrás de la casa

at the back of the drawer — en el fondo del cajón

we sat at the back — nos sentamos al fondo

I'll sit in the back — ( of car) yo me siento detrás or (en el asiento de) atrás

there's a yard at the back — hay un patio atrás

we stood at the back of the line — nos pusimos al final de la cola

(in) back of the sofa — (AmE) detrás del sofá

he's out back in the yard — (AmE) está en el patio, al fondo

in the back of beyond — donde el diablo perdió el poncho (AmL fam), en el quinto pino (Esp fam)

4) c ( Sport) defensa mf, zaguero, -ra m,f

II

adjective (before n, no comp)

1) ( at rear) trasero, de atrás

the back row — la última fila

2) ( of an earlier date)

back number o issue — número m atrasado

back pay — atrasos mpl

III

adverb

1) (indicating return, repetition)

we can get there and back in an hour — podemos ir y volver en una hora

the journey back — el viaje de vuelta

I'll be back tomorrow — volveré mañana

he's back from Paris — ha vuelto de París

it's back to work on Monday — el lunes hay que volver al trabajo

the Democrats are back in power — los demócratas han vuelto al poder

long hair is back (in fashion) — vuelve (a estar de moda) el pelo largo

meanwhile, back at the house... — mientras tanto, en la casa...

to run/fly back — volver* corriendo/en avión

I'll drive you back — te llevo de vuelta en coche

we arrived back in York at six — regresamos a York a las seis

she came back out — volvió a salir

he asked for the ring back — pidió que le devolviera el anillo

he invited me back for coffee — me invitó a su casa a tomar un café

they had us back the following week — nos devolvieron la invitación la semana siguiente; see also go, take back

2) (in reply, reprisal)

he slapped her and she slapped him back — él la abofeteó y ella le devolvió la bofetada

3)

a) ( backward)

take two steps back — da dos pasos atrás

to travel back in time — viajar hacia atrás en el tiempo

b) ( toward the rear) atrás

we can't hear you back here — aquí atrás no te oímos; see also hold, keep back

4) (in, into the past)

back in 1972 — (ya) en 1972

a few years back — hace unos años

as far back as last June — ya en junio

5)

back and forth — = backward(s) and forward(s): see backward II d)

IV
1.

transitive verb

1)

a) \<\<person/decision\>\> respaldar, apoyar

b) ( bet money on) \<\<horse/winner\>\> apostar* por

2) ( reverse)

he backed the car out of the garage — sacó el coche del garaje dando marcha atrás or (Col, Méx) en reversa

3) ( lie behind)

a house backed by open fields — una casa cuyo fondo da a campo abierto

4) ( Mus) acompañar

2.

vi \<\<vehicle/driver\>\> dar* marcha atrás, echar or meter reversa (Col, Méx)

he backed into a lamppost — se dio contra una farola al dar marcha atrás or al meter reversa

Phrasal Verbs:

- back away

- back down

- back off

- back on to

- back out

- back up

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8 Coimbra, University of

   Portugal's oldest and once its most prestigious university. As one of Europe's oldest seats of learning, the University of Coimbra and its various roles have a historic importance that supersedes merely the educational. For centuries, the university formed and trained the principal elites and professions that dominated Portugal. For more than a century, certain members of its faculty entered the central government in Lisbon. A few, such as law professor Afonso Costa, mathematics instructor Sidônio Pais, anthropology professor Bernardino Machado, and economics professor Antônio de Oliveira Salazar, became prime ministers and presidents of the republic. In such a small country, with relatively few universities until recently, Portugal counted Coimbra's university as the educational cradle of its leaders and knew its academic traditions as an intimate part of national life.

   Established in 1290 by King Dinis, the university first opened in Lisbon but was moved to Coimbra in 1308, and there it remained. University buildings were placed high on a hill, in a position that

   physically dominates Portugal's third city. While sections of the medieval university buildings are present, much of what today remains of the old University of Coimbra dates from the Manueline era (1495-1521) and the 17th and 18th centuries. The main administration building along the so-called Via Latina is baroque, in the style of the 17th and 18th centuries. Most prominent among buildings adjacent to the central core structures are the Chapel of São Miguel, built in the 17th century, and the magnificent University Library, of the era of wealthy King João V, built between 1717 and 1723. Created entirely by Portuguese artists and architects, the library is unique among historic monuments in Portugal. Its rare book collection, a monument in itself, is complemented by exquisite gilt wood decorations and beautiful doors, windows, and furniture. Among visitors and tourists, the chapel and library are the prime attractions to this day.

   The University underwent important reforms under the Pombaline administration (1750-77). Efforts to strengthen Coimbra's position in advanced learning and teaching by means of a new curriculum, including new courses in new fields and new degrees and colleges (in Portugal, major university divisions are usually called "faculties") often met strong resistance. In the Age of the Discoveries, efforts were made to introduce the useful study of mathematics, which was part of astronomy in that day, and to move beyond traditional medieval study only of theology, canon law, civil law, and medicine. Regarding even the advanced work of the Portuguese astronomer and mathematician Pedro Nunes, however, Coimbra University was lamentably slow in introducing mathematics or a school of arts and general studies. After some earlier efforts, the 1772 Pombaline Statutes, the core of the Pombaline reforms at Coimbra, had an impact that lasted more than a century. These reforms remained in effect to the end of the monarchy, when, in 1911, the First Republic instituted changes that stressed the secularization of learning. This included the abolition of the Faculty of Theology.

   Elaborate, ancient traditions and customs inform the faculty and student body of Coimbra University. Tradition flourishes, although some customs are more popular than others. Instead of residing in common residences or dormitories as in other countries, in Coimbra until recently students lived in the city in "Republics," private houses with domestic help hired by the students. Students wore typical black academic gowns. Efforts during the Revolution of 25 April 1974 and aftermath to abolish the wearing of the gowns, a powerful student image symbol, met resistance and generated controversy. In romantic Coimbra tradition, students with guitars sang characteristic songs, including Coimbra fado, a more cheerful song than Lisbon fado, and serenaded other students at special locations. Tradition also decreed that at graduation graduates wore their gowns but burned their school (or college or subject) ribbons ( fitas), an important ceremonial rite of passage.

   The University of Coimbra, while it underwent a revival in the 1980s and 1990s, no longer has a virtual monopoly over higher education in Portugal. By 1970, for example, the country had only four public and one private university, and the University of Lisbon had become more significant than ancient Coimbra. At present, diversity in higher education is even more pronounced: 12 private universities and 14 autonomous public universities are listed, not only in Lisbon and Oporto, but at provincial locations. Still, Coimbra retains an influence as the senior university, some of whose graduates still enter national government and distinguished themselves in various professions.

   An important student concern at all institutions of higher learning, and one that marked the last half of the 1990s and continued into the next century, was the question of increased student fees and tuition payments (in Portuguese, propinas). Due to the expansion of the national universities in function as well as in the size of student bodies, national budget constraints, and the rising cost of education, the central government began to increase student fees. The student movement protested this change by means of various tactics, including student strikes, boycotts, and demonstrations. At the same time, a growing number of private universities began to attract larger numbers of students who could afford the higher fees in private institutions, but who had been denied places in the increasingly competitive and pressured public universities.

Historical dictionary of Portugal > Coimbra, University of
9 Historical Portugal

   Before Romans described western Iberia or Hispania as "Lusitania," ancient Iberians inhabited the land. Phoenician and Greek trading settlements grew up in the Tagus estuary area and nearby coasts. Beginning around 202 BCE, Romans invaded what is today southern Portugal. With Rome's defeat of Carthage, Romans proceeded to conquer and rule the western region north of the Tagus, which they named Roman "Lusitania." In the fourth century CE, as Rome's rule weakened, the area experienced yet another invasion—Germanic tribes, principally the Suevi, who eventually were Christianized. During the sixth century CE, the Suevi kingdom was superseded by yet another Germanic tribe—the Christian Visigoths.

   A major turning point in Portugal's history came in 711, as Muslim armies from North Africa, consisting of both Arab and Berber elements, invaded the Iberian Peninsula from across the Straits of Gibraltar. They entered what is now Portugal in 714, and proceeded to conquer most of the country except for the far north. For the next half a millennium, Islam and Muslim presence in Portugal left a significant mark upon the politics, government, language, and culture of the country.

   Islam, Reconquest, and Portugal Created, 714-1140

   The long frontier struggle between Muslim invaders and Christian communities in the north of the Iberian peninsula was called the Reconquista (Reconquest). It was during this struggle that the first dynasty of Portuguese kings (Burgundian) emerged and the independent monarchy of Portugal was established. Christian forces moved south from what is now the extreme north of Portugal and gradually defeated Muslim forces, besieging and capturing towns under Muslim sway. In the ninth century, as Christian forces slowly made their way southward, Christian elements were dominant only in the area between Minho province and the Douro River; this region became known as "territorium Portu-calense."

   In the 11th century, the advance of the Reconquest quickened as local Christian armies were reinforced by crusading knights from what is now France and England. Christian forces took Montemor (1034), at the Mondego River; Lamego (1058); Viseu (1058); and Coimbra (1064). In 1095, the king of Castile and Léon granted the country of "Portu-cale," what became northern Portugal, to a Burgundian count who had emigrated from France. This was the foundation of Portugal. In 1139, a descendant of this count, Afonso Henriques, proclaimed himself "King of Portugal." He was Portugal's first monarch, the "Founder," and the first of the Burgundian dynasty, which ruled until 1385.

   The emergence of Portugal in the 12th century as a separate monarchy in Iberia occurred before the Christian Reconquest of the peninsula. In the 1140s, the pope in Rome recognized Afonso Henriques as king of Portugal. In 1147, after a long, bloody siege, Muslim-occupied Lisbon fell to Afonso Henriques's army. Lisbon was the greatest prize of the 500-year war. Assisting this effort were English crusaders on their way to the Holy Land; the first bishop of Lisbon was an Englishman. When the Portuguese captured Faro and Silves in the Algarve province in 1248-50, the Reconquest of the extreme western portion of the Iberian peninsula was complete—significantly, more than two centuries before the Spanish crown completed the Reconquest of the eastern portion by capturing Granada in 1492.

   Consolidation and Independence of Burgundian Portugal, 1140-1385

   Two main themes of Portugal's early existence as a monarchy are the consolidation of control over the realm and the defeat of a Castil-ian threat from the east to its independence. At the end of this period came the birth of a new royal dynasty (Aviz), which prepared to carry the Christian Reconquest beyond continental Portugal across the straits of Gibraltar to North Africa. There was a variety of motives behind these developments. Portugal's independent existence was imperiled by threats from neighboring Iberian kingdoms to the north and east. Politics were dominated not only by efforts against the Muslims in

   Portugal (until 1250) and in nearby southern Spain (until 1492), but also by internecine warfare among the kingdoms of Castile, Léon, Aragon, and Portugal. A final comeback of Muslim forces was defeated at the battle of Salado (1340) by allied Castilian and Portuguese forces. In the emerging Kingdom of Portugal, the monarch gradually gained power over and neutralized the nobility and the Church.

   The historic and commonplace Portuguese saying "From Spain, neither a good wind nor a good marriage" was literally played out in diplomacy and war in the late 14th-century struggles for mastery in the peninsula. Larger, more populous Castile was pitted against smaller Portugal. Castile's Juan I intended to force a union between Castile and Portugal during this era of confusion and conflict. In late 1383, Portugal's King Fernando, the last king of the Burgundian dynasty, suddenly died prematurely at age 38, and the Master of Aviz, Portugal's most powerful nobleman, took up the cause of independence and resistance against Castile's invasion. The Master of Aviz, who became King João I of Portugal, was able to obtain foreign assistance. With the aid of English archers, Joao's armies defeated the Castilians in the crucial battle of Aljubarrota, on 14 August 1385, a victory that assured the independence of the Portuguese monarchy from its Castilian nemesis for several centuries.

   Aviz Dynasty and Portugal's First Overseas Empire, 1385-1580

   The results of the victory at Aljubarrota, much celebrated in Portugal's art and monuments, and the rise of the Aviz dynasty also helped to establish a new merchant class in Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal's second city. This group supported King João I's program of carrying the Reconquest to North Africa, since it was interested in expanding Portugal's foreign commerce and tapping into Muslim trade routes and resources in Africa. With the Reconquest against the Muslims completed in Portugal and the threat from Castile thwarted for the moment, the Aviz dynasty launched an era of overseas conquest, exploration, and trade. These efforts dominated Portugal's 15th and 16th centuries.

   The overseas empire and age of Discoveries began with Portugal's bold conquest in 1415 of the Moroccan city of Ceuta. One royal member of the 1415 expedition was young, 21-year-old Prince Henry, later known in history as "Prince Henry the Navigator." His part in the capture of Ceuta won Henry his knighthood and began Portugal's "Marvelous Century," during which the small kingdom was counted as a European and world power of consequence. Henry was the son of King João I and his English queen, Philippa of Lancaster, but he did not inherit the throne. Instead, he spent most of his life and his fortune, and that of the wealthy military Order of Christ, on various imperial ventures and on voyages of exploration down the African coast and into the Atlantic. While mythology has surrounded Henry's controversial role in the Discoveries, and this role has been exaggerated, there is no doubt that he played a vital part in the initiation of Portugal's first overseas empire and in encouraging exploration. He was naturally curious, had a sense of mission for Portugal, and was a strong leader. He also had wealth to expend; at least a third of the African voyages of the time were under his sponsorship. If Prince Henry himself knew little science, significant scientific advances in navigation were made in his day.

   What were Portugal's motives for this new imperial effort? The well-worn historical cliche of "God, Glory, and Gold" can only partly explain the motivation of a small kingdom with few natural resources and barely 1 million people, which was greatly outnumbered by the other powers it confronted. Among Portuguese objectives were the desire to exploit known North African trade routes and resources (gold, wheat, leather, weaponry, and other goods that were scarce in Iberia); the need to outflank the Muslim world in the Mediterranean by sailing around Africa, attacking Muslims en route; and the wish to ally with Christian kingdoms beyond Africa. This enterprise also involved a strategy of breaking the Venetian spice monopoly by trading directly with the East by means of discovering and exploiting a sea route around Africa to Asia. Besides the commercial motives, Portugal nurtured a strong crusading sense of Christian mission, and various classes in the kingdom saw an opportunity for fame and gain.

   By the time of Prince Henry's death in 1460, Portugal had gained control of the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeiras, begun to colonize the Cape Verde Islands, failed to conquer the Canary Islands from Castile, captured various cities on Morocco's coast, and explored as far as Senegal, West Africa, down the African coast. By 1488, Bar-tolomeu Dias had rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and thereby discovered the way to the Indian Ocean.

   Portugal's largely coastal African empire and later its fragile Asian empire brought unexpected wealth but were purchased at a high price. Costs included wars of conquest and defense against rival powers, manning the far-flung navel and trade fleets and scattered castle-fortresses, and staffing its small but fierce armies, all of which entailed a loss of skills and population to maintain a scattered empire. Always short of capital, the monarchy became indebted to bankers. There were many defeats beginning in the 16th century at the hands of the larger imperial European monarchies (Spain, France, England, and Holland) and many attacks on Portugal and its strung-out empire. Typically, there was also the conflict that arose when a tenuously held world empire that rarely if ever paid its way demanded finance and manpower Portugal itself lacked.

   The first 80 years of the glorious imperial era, the golden age of Portugal's imperial power and world influence, was an African phase. During 1415-88, Portuguese navigators and explorers in small ships, some of them caravelas (caravels), explored the treacherous, disease-ridden coasts of Africa from Morocco to South Africa beyond the Cape of Good Hope. By the 1470s, the Portuguese had reached the Gulf of Guinea and, in the early 1480s, what is now Angola. Bartolomeu Dias's extraordinary voyage of 1487-88 to South Africa's coast and the edge of the Indian Ocean convinced Portugal that the best route to Asia's spices and Christians lay south, around the tip of southern Africa. Between 1488 and 1495, there was a hiatus caused in part by domestic conflict in Portugal, discussion of resources available for further conquests beyond Africa in Asia, and serious questions as to Portugal's capacity to reach beyond Africa. In 1495, King Manuel and his council decided to strike for Asia, whatever the consequences. In 1497-99, Vasco da Gama, under royal orders, made the epic two-year voyage that discovered the sea route to western India (Asia), outflanked Islam and Venice, and began Portugal's Asian empire. Within 50 years, Portugal had discovered and begun the exploitation of its largest colony, Brazil, and set up forts and trading posts from the Middle East (Aden and Ormuz), India (Calicut, Goa, etc.), Malacca, and Indonesia to Macau in China.

   By the 1550s, parts of its largely coastal, maritime trading post empire from Morocco to the Moluccas were under siege from various hostile forces, including Muslims, Christians, and Hindi. Although Moroccan forces expelled the Portuguese from the major coastal cities by 1550, the rival European monarchies of Castile (Spain), England, France, and later Holland began to seize portions of her undermanned, outgunned maritime empire.

   In 1580, Phillip II of Spain, whose mother was a Portuguese princess and who had a strong claim to the Portuguese throne, invaded Portugal, claimed the throne, and assumed control over the realm and, by extension, its African, Asian, and American empires. Phillip II filled the power vacuum that appeared in Portugal following the loss of most of Portugal's army and its young, headstrong King Sebastião in a disastrous war in Morocco. Sebastiao's death in battle (1578) and the lack of a natural heir to succeed him, as well as the weak leadership of the cardinal who briefly assumed control in Lisbon, led to a crisis that Spain's strong monarch exploited. As a result, Portugal lost its independence to Spain for a period of 60 years.

   Portugal under Spanish Rule, 1580-1640

   Despite the disastrous nature of Portugal's experience under Spanish rule, "The Babylonian Captivity" gave birth to modern Portuguese nationalism, its second overseas empire, and its modern alliance system with England. Although Spain allowed Portugal's weakened empire some autonomy, Spanish rule in Portugal became increasingly burdensome and unacceptable. Spain's ambitious imperial efforts in Europe and overseas had an impact on the Portuguese as Spain made greater and greater demands on its smaller neighbor for manpower and money. Portugal's culture underwent a controversial Castilianization, while its empire became hostage to Spain's fortunes. New rival powers England, France, and Holland attacked and took parts of Spain's empire and at the same time attacked Portugal's empire, as well as the mother country.

   Portugal's empire bore the consequences of being attacked by Spain's bitter enemies in what was a form of world war. Portuguese losses were heavy. By 1640, Portugal had lost most of its Moroccan cities as well as Ceylon, the Moluccas, and sections of India. With this, Portugal's Asian empire was gravely weakened. Only Goa, Damão, Diu, Bombay, Timor, and Macau remained and, in Brazil, Dutch forces occupied the northeast.

   On 1 December 1640, long commemorated as a national holiday, Portuguese rebels led by the duke of Braganza overthrew Spanish domination and took advantage of Spanish weakness following a more serious rebellion in Catalonia. Portugal regained independence from Spain, but at a price: dependence on foreign assistance to maintain its independence in the form of the renewal of the alliance with England.

   Restoration and Second Empire, 1640-1822

   Foreign affairs and empire dominated the restoration era and aftermath, and Portugal again briefly enjoyed greater European power and prestige. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance was renewed and strengthened in treaties of 1642, 1654, and 1661, and Portugal's independence from Spain was underwritten by English pledges and armed assistance. In a Luso-Spanish treaty of 1668, Spain recognized Portugal's independence. Portugal's alliance with England was a marriage of convenience and necessity between two monarchies with important religious, cultural, and social differences. In return for legal, diplomatic, and trade privileges, as well as the use during war and peace of Portugal's great Lisbon harbor and colonial ports for England's navy, England pledged to protect Portugal and its scattered empire from any attack. The previously cited 17th-century alliance treaties were renewed later in the Treaty of Windsor, signed in London in 1899. On at least 10 different occasions after 1640, and during the next two centuries, England was central in helping prevent or repel foreign invasions of its ally, Portugal.

   Portugal's second empire (1640-1822) was largely Brazil-oriented. Portuguese colonization, exploitation of wealth, and emigration focused on Portuguese America, and imperial revenues came chiefly from Brazil. Between 1670 and 1740, Portugal's royalty and nobility grew wealthier on funds derived from Brazilian gold, diamonds, sugar, tobacco, and other crops, an enterprise supported by the Atlantic slave trade and the supply of African slave labor from West Africa and Angola. Visitors today can see where much of that wealth was invested: Portugal's rich legacy of monumental architecture. Meanwhile, the African slave trade took a toll in Angola and West Africa.

   In continental Portugal, absolutist monarchy dominated politics and government, and there was a struggle for position and power between the monarchy and other institutions, such as the Church and nobility. King José I's chief minister, usually known in history as the marquis of Pombal (ruled 1750-77), sharply suppressed the nobility and the

   Church (including the Inquisition, now a weak institution) and expelled the Jesuits. Pombal also made an effort to reduce economic dependence on England, Portugal's oldest ally. But his successes did not last much beyond his disputed time in office.

   Beginning in the late 18th century, the European-wide impact of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon placed Portugal in a vulnerable position. With the monarchy ineffectively led by an insane queen (Maria I) and her indecisive regent son (João VI), Portugal again became the focus of foreign ambition and aggression. With England unable to provide decisive assistance in time, France—with Spain's consent—invaded Portugal in 1807. As Napoleon's army under General Junot entered Lisbon meeting no resistance, Portugal's royal family fled on a British fleet to Brazil, where it remained in exile until 1821. In the meantime, Portugal's overseas empire was again under threat. There was a power vacuum as the monarch was absent, foreign armies were present, and new political notions of liberalism and constitutional monarchy were exciting various groups of citizens.

   Again England came to the rescue, this time in the form of the armies of the duke of Wellington. Three successive French invasions of Portugal were defeated and expelled, and Wellington succeeded in carrying the war against Napoleon across the Portuguese frontier into Spain. The presence of the English army, the new French-born liberal ideas, and the political vacuum combined to create revolutionary conditions. The French invasions and the peninsular wars, where Portuguese armed forces played a key role, marked the beginning of a new era in politics.

   Liberalism and Constitutional Monarchy, 1822-1910

   During 1807-22, foreign invasions, war, and civil strife over conflicting political ideas gravely damaged Portugal's commerce, economy, and novice industry. The next terrible blow was the loss of Brazil in 1822, the jewel in the imperial crown. Portugal's very independence seemed to be at risk. In vain, Portugal sought to resist Brazilian independence by force, but in 1825 it formally acknowledged Brazilian independence by treaty.

   Portugal's slow recovery from the destructive French invasions and the "war of independence" was complicated by civil strife over the form of constitutional monarchy that best suited Portugal. After struggles over these issues between 1820 and 1834, Portugal settled somewhat uncertainly into a moderate constitutional monarchy whose constitution (Charter of 1826) lent it strong political powers to exert a moderating influence between the executive and legislative branches of the government. It also featured a new upper middle class based on land ownership and commerce; a Catholic Church that, although still important, lived with reduced privileges and property; a largely African (third) empire to which Lisbon and Oporto devoted increasing spiritual and material resources, starting with the liberal imperial plans of 1836 and 1851, and continuing with the work of institutions like the Lisbon Society of Geography (established 1875); and a mass of rural peasants whose bonds to the land weakened after 1850 and who began to immigrate in increasing numbers to Brazil and North America.

   Chronic military intervention in national politics began in 19th-century Portugal. Such intervention, usually commencing with coups or pronunciamentos (military revolts), was a shortcut to the spoils of political office and could reflect popular discontent as well as the power of personalities. An early example of this was the 1817 golpe (coup) attempt of General Gomes Freire against British military rule in Portugal before the return of King João VI from Brazil. Except for a more stable period from 1851 to 1880, military intervention in politics, or the threat thereof, became a feature of the constitutional monarchy's political life, and it continued into the First Republic and the subsequent Estado Novo.

   Beginning with the Regeneration period (1851-80), Portugal experienced greater political stability and economic progress. Military intervention in politics virtually ceased; industrialization and construction of railroads, roads, and bridges proceeded; two political parties (Regenerators and Historicals) worked out a system of rotation in power; and leading intellectuals sparked a cultural revival in several fields. In 19th-century literature, there was a new golden age led by such figures as Alexandre Herculano (historian), Eça de Queirós (novelist), Almeida Garrett (playwright and essayist), Antero de Quental (poet), and Joaquim Oliveira Martins (historian and social scientist). In its third overseas empire, Portugal attempted to replace the slave trade and slavery with legitimate economic activities; to reform the administration; and to expand Portuguese holdings beyond coastal footholds deep into the African hinterlands in West, West Central, and East Africa. After 1841, to some extent, and especially after 1870, colonial affairs, combined with intense nationalism, pressures for economic profit in Africa, sentiment for national revival, and the drift of European affairs would make or break Lisbon governments.

   Beginning with the political crisis that arose out of the "English Ultimatum" affair of January 1890, the monarchy became discredtted and identified with the poorly functioning government, political parties splintered, and republicanism found more supporters. Portugal participated in the "Scramble for Africa," expanding its African holdings, but failed to annex territory connecting Angola and Mozambique. A growing foreign debt and state bankruptcy as of the early 1890s damaged the constitutional monarchy's reputation, despite the efforts of King Carlos in diplomacy, the renewal of the alliance in the Windsor Treaty of 1899, and the successful if bloody colonial wars in the empire (1880-97). Republicanism proclaimed that Portugal's weak economy and poor society were due to two historic institutions: the monarchy and the Catholic Church. A republic, its stalwarts claimed, would bring greater individual liberty; efficient, if more decentralized government; and a stronger colonial program while stripping the Church of its role in both society and education.

   As the monarchy lost support and republicans became more aggressive, violence increased in politics. King Carlos I and his heir Luís were murdered in Lisbon by anarchist-republicans on 1 February 1908. Following a military and civil insurrection and fighting between monarchist and republican forces, on 5 October 1910, King Manuel II fled Portugal and a republic was proclaimed.

   First Parliamentary Republic, 1910-26

   Portugal's first attempt at republican government was the most unstable, turbulent parliamentary republic in the history of 20th-century Western Europe. During a little under 16 years of the republic, there were 45 governments, a number of legislatures that did not complete normal terms, military coups, and only one president who completed his four-year term in office. Portuguese society was poorly prepared for this political experiment. Among the deadly legacies of the monarchy were a huge public debt; a largely rural, apolitical, and illiterate peasant population; conflict over the causes of the country's misfortunes; and lack of experience with a pluralist, democratic system.

   The republic had some talented leadership but lacked popular, institutional, and economic support. The 1911 republican constitution established only a limited democracy, as only a small portion of the adult male citizenry was eligible to vote. In a country where the majority was Catholic, the republic passed harshly anticlerical laws, and its institutions and supporters persecuted both the Church and its adherents. During its brief disjointed life, the First Republic drafted important reform plans in economic, social, and educational affairs; actively promoted development in the empire; and pursued a liberal, generous foreign policy. Following British requests for Portugal's assistance in World War I, Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in March 1916 and sent armies to Flanders and Portuguese Africa. Portugal's intervention in that conflict, however, was too costly in many respects, and the ultimate failure of the republic in part may be ascribed to Portugal's World War I activities.

   Unfortunately for the republic, its time coincided with new threats to Portugal's African possessions: World War I, social and political demands from various classes that could not be reconciled, excessive military intervention in politics, and, in particular, the worst economic and financial crisis Portugal had experienced since the 16th and 17th centuries. After the original Portuguese Republican Party (PRP, also known as the "Democrats") splintered into three warring groups in 1912, no true multiparty system emerged. The Democrats, except for only one or two elections, held an iron monopoly of electoral power, and political corruption became a major issue. As extreme right-wing dictatorships elsewhere in Europe began to take power in Italy (1922), neighboring Spain (1923), and Greece (1925), what scant popular support remained for the republic collapsed. Backed by a right-wing coalition of landowners from Alentejo, clergy, Coimbra University faculty and students, Catholic organizations, and big business, career military officers led by General Gomes da Costa executed a coup on 28 May 1926, turned out the last republican government, and established a military government.

   The Estado Novo (New State), 1926-74

   During the military phase (1926-32) of the Estado Novo, professional military officers, largely from the army, governed and administered Portugal and held key cabinet posts, but soon discovered that the military possessed no magic formula that could readily solve the problems inherited from the First Republic. Especially during the years 1926-31, the military dictatorship, even with its political repression of republican activities and institutions (military censorship of the press, political police action, and closure of the republic's rowdy parliament), was characterized by similar weaknesses: personalism and factionalism; military coups and political instability, including civil strife and loss of life; state debt and bankruptcy; and a weak economy. "Barracks parliamentarism" was not an acceptable alternative even to the "Nightmare Republic."

   Led by General Óscar Carmona, who had replaced and sent into exile General Gomes da Costa, the military dictatorship turned to a civilian expert in finance and economics to break the budget impasse and bring coherence to the disorganized system. Appointed minister of finance on 27 April 1928, the Coimbra University Law School professor of economics Antônio de Oliveira Salazar (1889-1970) first reformed finance, helped balance the budget, and then turned to other concerns as he garnered extraordinary governing powers. In 1930, he was appointed interim head of another key ministry (Colonies) and within a few years had become, in effect, a civilian dictator who, with the military hierarchy's support, provided the government with coherence, a program, and a set of policies.

   For nearly 40 years after he was appointed the first civilian prime minister in 1932, Salazar's personality dominated the government. Unlike extreme right-wing dictators elsewhere in Europe, Salazar was directly appointed by the army but was never endorsed by a popular political party, street militia, or voter base. The scholarly, reclusive former Coimbra University professor built up what became known after 1932 as the Estado Novo ("New State"), which at the time of its overthrow by another military coup in 1974, was the longest surviving authoritarian regime in Western Europe. The system of Salazar and the largely academic and technocratic ruling group he gathered in his cabinets was based on the central bureaucracy of the state, which was supported by the president of the republic—always a senior career military officer, General Óscar Carmona (1928-51), General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58), and Admiral Américo Tómaz (1958-74)—and the complicity of various institutions. These included a rubber-stamp legislature called the National Assembly (1935-74) and a political police known under various names: PVDE (1932-45), PIDE (1945-69),

   and DGS (1969-74). Other defenders of the Estado Novo security were paramilitary organizations such as the National Republican Guard (GNR); the Portuguese Legion (PL); and the Portuguese Youth [Movement]. In addition to censorship of the media, theater, and books, there was political repression and a deliberate policy of depoliticization. All political parties except for the approved movement of regime loyalists, the União Nacional or (National Union), were banned.

   The most vigorous and more popular period of the New State was 1932-44, when the basic structures were established. Never monolithic or entirely the work of one person (Salazar), the New State was constructed with the assistance of several dozen top associates who were mainly academics from law schools, some technocrats with specialized skills, and a handful of trusted career military officers. The 1933 Constitution declared Portugal to be a "unitary, corporative Republic," and pressures to restore the monarchy were resisted. Although some of the regime's followers were fascists and pseudofascists, many more were conservative Catholics, integralists, nationalists, and monarchists of different varieties, and even some reactionary republicans. If the New State was authoritarian, it was not totalitarian and, unlike fascism in Benito Mussolini's Italy or Adolf Hitler's Germany, it usually employed the minimum of violence necessary to defeat what remained a largely fractious, incoherent opposition.

   With the tumultuous Second Republic and the subsequent civil war in nearby Spain, the regime felt threatened and reinforced its defenses. During what Salazar rightly perceived as a time of foreign policy crisis for Portugal (1936-45), he assumed control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From there, he pursued four basic foreign policy objectives: supporting the Nationalist rebels of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and concluding defense treaties with a triumphant Franco; ensuring that General Franco in an exhausted Spain did not enter World War II on the Axis side; maintaining Portuguese neutrality in World War II with a post-1942 tilt toward the Allies, including granting Britain and the United States use of bases in the Azores Islands; and preserving and protecting Portugal's Atlantic Islands and its extensive, if poor, overseas empire in Africa and Asia.

   During the middle years of the New State (1944-58), many key Salazar associates in government either died or resigned, and there was greater social unrest in the form of unprecedented strikes and clandestine Communist activities, intensified opposition, and new threatening international pressures on Portugal's overseas empire. During the earlier phase of the Cold War (1947-60), Portugal became a steadfast, if weak, member of the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and, in 1955, with American support, Portugal joined the United Nations (UN). Colonial affairs remained a central concern of the regime. As of 1939, Portugal was the third largest colonial power in the world and possessed territories in tropical Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe Islands) and the remnants of its 16th-century empire in Asia (Goa, Damão, Diu, East Timor, and Macau). Beginning in the early 1950s, following the independence of India in 1947, Portugal resisted Indian pressures to decolonize Portuguese India and used police forces to discourage internal opposition in its Asian and African colonies.

   The later years of the New State (1958-68) witnessed the aging of the increasingly isolated but feared Salazar and new threats both at home and overseas. Although the regime easily overcame the brief oppositionist threat from rival presidential candidate General Humberto Delgado in the spring of 1958, new developments in the African and Asian empires imperiled the authoritarian system. In February 1961, oppositionists hijacked the Portuguese ocean liner Santa Maria and, in following weeks, African insurgents in northern Angola, although they failed to expel the Portuguese, gained worldwide media attention, discredited the New State, and began the 13-year colonial war. After thwarting a dissident military coup against his continued leadership, Salazar and his ruling group mobilized military repression in Angola and attempted to develop the African colonies at a faster pace in order to ensure Portuguese control. Meanwhile, the other European colonial powers (Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain) rapidly granted political independence to their African territories.

   At the time of Salazar's removal from power in September 1968, following a stroke, Portugal's efforts to maintain control over its colonies appeared to be successful. President Americo Tomás appointed Dr. Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor as prime minister. While maintaining the New State's basic structures, and continuing the regime's essential colonial policy, Caetano attempted wider reforms in colonial administration and some devolution of power from Lisbon, as well as more freedom of expression in Lisbon. Still, a great deal of the budget was devoted to supporting the wars against the insurgencies in Africa. Meanwhile in Asia, Portuguese India had fallen when the Indian army invaded in December 1961. The loss of Goa was a psychological blow to the leadership of the New State, and of the Asian empire only East Timor and Macau remained.

   The Caetano years (1968-74) were but a hiatus between the waning Salazar era and a new regime. There was greater political freedom and rapid economic growth (5-6 percent annually to late 1973), but Caetano's government was unable to reform the old system thoroughly and refused to consider new methods either at home or in the empire. In the end, regime change came from junior officers of the professional military who organized the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) against the Caetano government. It was this group of several hundred officers, mainly in the army and navy, which engineered a largely bloodless coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974. Their unexpected action brought down the 48-year-old New State and made possible the eventual establishment and consolidation of democratic governance in Portugal, as well as a reorientation of the country away from the Atlantic toward Europe.

   Revolution of Carnations, 1974-76

   Following successful military operations of the Armed Forces Movement against the Caetano government, Portugal experienced what became known as the "Revolution of Carnations." It so happened that during the rainy week of the military golpe, Lisbon flower shops were featuring carnations, and the revolutionaries and their supporters adopted the red carnation as the common symbol of the event, as well as of the new freedom from dictatorship. The MFA, whose leaders at first were mostly little-known majors and captains, proclaimed a three-fold program of change for the new Portugal: democracy; decolonization of the overseas empire, after ending the colonial wars; and developing a backward economy in the spirit of opportunity and equality. During the first 24 months after the coup, there was civil strife, some anarchy, and a power struggle. With the passing of the Estado Novo, public euphoria burst forth as the new provisional military government proclaimed the freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, and abolished censorship, the political police, the Portuguese Legion, Portuguese Youth, and other New State organizations, including the National Union. Scores of political parties were born and joined the senior political party, the Portuguese Community Party (PCP), and the Socialist Party (PS), founded shortly before the coup.

   Portugal's Revolution of Carnations went through several phases. There was an attempt to take control by radical leftists, including the PCP and its allies. This was thwarted by moderate officers in the army, as well as by the efforts of two political parties: the PS and the Social Democrats (PPD, later PSD). The first phase was from April to September 1974. Provisional president General Antonio Spínola, whose 1974 book Portugal and the Future had helped prepare public opinion for the coup, met irresistible leftist pressures. After Spinola's efforts to avoid rapid decolonization of the African empire failed, he resigned in September 1974. During the second phase, from September 1974 to March 1975, radical military officers gained control, but a coup attempt by General Spínola and his supporters in Lisbon in March 1975 failed and Spínola fled to Spain.

   In the third phase of the Revolution, March-November 1975, a strong leftist reaction followed. Farm workers occupied and "nationalized" 1.1 million hectares of farmland in the Alentejo province, and radical military officers in the provisional government ordered the nationalization of Portuguese banks (foreign banks were exempted), utilities, and major industries, or about 60 percent of the economic system. There were power struggles among various political parties — a total of 50 emerged—and in the streets there was civil strife among labor, military, and law enforcement groups. A constituent assembly, elected on 25 April 1975, in Portugal's first free elections since 1926, drafted a democratic constitution. The Council of the Revolution (CR), briefly a revolutionary military watchdog committee, was entrenched as part of the government under the constitution, until a later revision. During the chaotic year of 1975, about 30 persons were killed in political frays while unstable provisional governments came and went. On 25 November 1975, moderate military forces led by Colonel Ramalho Eanes, who later was twice elected president of the republic (1976 and 1981), defeated radical, leftist military groups' revolutionary conspiracies.

   In the meantime, Portugal's scattered overseas empire experienced a precipitous and unprepared decolonization. One by one, the former colonies were granted and accepted independence—Guinea-Bissau (September 1974), Cape Verde Islands (July 1975), and Mozambique (July 1975). Portugal offered to turn over Macau to the People's Republic of China, but the offer was refused then and later negotiations led to the establishment of a formal decolonization or hand-over date of 1999. But in two former colonies, the process of decolonization had tragic results.

   In Angola, decolonization negotiations were greatly complicated by the fact that there were three rival nationalist movements in a struggle for power. The January 1975 Alvor Agreement signed by Portugal and these three parties was not effectively implemented. A bloody civil war broke out in Angola in the spring of 1975 and, when Portuguese armed forces withdrew and declared that Angola was independent on 11 November 1975, the bloodshed only increased. Meanwhile, most of the white Portuguese settlers from Angola and Mozambique fled during the course of 1975. Together with African refugees, more than 600,000 of these retornados ("returned ones") went by ship and air to Portugal and thousands more to Namibia, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.

   The second major decolonization disaster was in Portugal's colony of East Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. Portugal's capacity to supervise and control a peaceful transition to independence in this isolated, neglected colony was limited by the strength of giant Indonesia, distance from Lisbon, and Portugal's revolutionary disorder and inability to defend Timor. In early December 1975, before Portugal granted formal independence and as one party, FRETILIN, unilaterally declared East Timor's independence, Indonesia's armed forces invaded, conquered, and annexed East Timor. Indonesian occupation encountered East Timorese resistance, and a heavy loss of life followed. The East Timor question remained a contentious international issue in the UN, as well as in Lisbon and Jakarta, for more than 20 years following Indonesia's invasion and annexation of the former colony of Portugal. Major changes occurred, beginning in 1998, after Indonesia underwent a political revolution and allowed a referendum in East Timor to decide that territory's political future in August 1999. Most East Timorese chose independence, but Indonesian forces resisted that verdict until

   UN intervention in September 1999. Following UN rule for several years, East Timor attained full independence on 20 May 2002.

   Consolidation of Democracy, 1976-2000

   After several free elections and record voter turnouts between 25 April 1975 and June 1976, civil war was averted and Portugal's second democratic republic began to stabilize. The MFA was dissolved, the military were returned to the barracks, and increasingly elected civilians took over the government of the country. The 1976 Constitution was revised several times beginning in 1982 and 1989, in order to reempha-size the principle of free enterprise in the economy while much of the large, nationalized sector was privatized. In June 1976, General Ram-alho Eanes was elected the first constitutional president of the republic (five-year term), and he appointed socialist leader Dr. Mário Soares as prime minister of the first constitutional government.

   From 1976 to 1985, Portugal's new system featured a weak economy and finances, labor unrest, and administrative and political instability. The difficult consolidation of democratic governance was eased in part by the strong currency and gold reserves inherited from the Estado Novo, but Lisbon seemed unable to cope with high unemployment, new debt, the complex impact of the refugees from Africa, world recession, and the agitation of political parties. Four major parties emerged from the maelstrom of 1974-75, except for the Communist Party, all newly founded. They were, from left to right, the Communists (PCP); the Socialists (PS), who managed to dominate governments and the legislature but not win a majority in the Assembly of the Republic; the Social Democrats (PSD); and the Christian Democrats (CDS). During this period, the annual growth rate was low (l-2 percent), and the nationalized sector of the economy stagnated.

   Enhanced economic growth, greater political stability, and more effective central government as of 1985, and especially 1987, were due to several developments. In 1977, Portugal applied for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), now the European Union (EU) since 1993. In January 1986, with Spain, Portugal was granted membership, and economic and financial progress in the intervening years has been significantly influenced by the comparatively large investment, loans, technology, advice, and other assistance from the EEC. Low unemployment, high annual growth rates (5 percent), and moderate inflation have also been induced by the new political and administrative stability in Lisbon. Led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva, an economist who was trained abroad, the PSD's strong organization, management, and electoral support since 1985 have assisted in encouraging economic recovery and development. In 1985, the PSD turned the PS out of office and won the general election, although they did not have an absolute majority of assembly seats. In 1986, Mário Soares was elected president of the republic, the first civilian to hold that office since the First Republic. In the elections of 1987 and 1991, however, the PSD was returned to power with clear majorities of over 50 percent of the vote.

   Although the PSD received 50.4 percent of the vote in the 1991 parliamentary elections and held a 42-seat majority in the Assembly of the Republic, the party began to lose public support following media revelations regarding corruption and complaints about Prime Minister Cavaco Silva's perceived arrogant leadership style. President Mário Soares voiced criticism of the PSD's seemingly untouchable majority and described a "tyranny of the majority." Economic growth slowed down. In the parliamentary elections of 1995 and the presidential election of 1996, the PSD's dominance ended for the time being. Prime Minister Antônio Guterres came to office when the PS won the October 1995 elections, and in the subsequent presidential contest, in January 1996, socialist Jorge Sampaio, the former mayor of Lisbon, was elected president of the republic, thus defeating Cavaco Silva's bid. Young and popular, Guterres moved the PS toward the center of the political spectrum. Under Guterres, the PS won the October 1999 parliamentary elections. The PS defeated the PSD but did not manage to win a clear, working majority of seats, and this made the PS dependent upon alliances with smaller parties, including the PCP.

   In the local elections in December 2001, the PSD's criticism of PS's heavy public spending allowed the PSD to take control of the key cities of Lisbon, Oporto, and Coimbra. Guterres resigned, and parliamentary elections were brought forward from 2004 to March 2002. The PSD won a narrow victory with 40 percent of the votes, and Jose Durão Barroso became prime minister. Having failed to win a majority of the seats in parliament forced the PSD to govern in coalition with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) led by Paulo Portas. Durão Barroso set about reducing government spending by cutting the budgets of local authorities, freezing civil service hiring, and reviving the economy by accelerating privatization of state-owned enterprises. These measures provoked a 24-hour strike by public-sector workers. Durão Barroso reacted with vows to press ahead with budget-cutting measures and imposed a wage freeze on all employees earning more than €1,000, which affected more than one-half of Portugal's work force.

   In June 2004, Durão Barroso was invited by Romano Prodi to succeed him as president of the European Commission. Durão Barroso accepted and resigned the prime ministership in July. Pedro Santana Lopes, the leader of the PSD, became prime minister. Already unpopular at the time of Durão Barroso's resignation, the PSD-led government became increasingly unpopular under Santana Lopes. A month-long delay in the start of the school year and confusion over his plan to cut taxes and raise public-sector salaries, eroded confidence even more. By November, Santana Lopes's government was so unpopular that President Jorge Sampaio was obliged to dissolve parliament and hold new elections, two years ahead of schedule.

   Parliamentary elections were held on 20 February 2005. The PS, which had promised the electorate disciplined and transparent governance, educational reform, the alleviation of poverty, and a boost in employment, won 45 percent of the vote and the majority of the seats in parliament. The leader of the PS, José Sôcrates became prime minister on 12 March 2005. In the regularly scheduled presidential elections held on 6 January 2006, the former leader of the PSD and prime minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, won a narrow victory and became president on 9 March 2006. With a mass protest, public teachers' strike, and street demonstrations in March 2008, Portugal's media, educational, and social systems experienced more severe pressures. With the spreading global recession beginning in September 2008, Portugal's economic and financial systems became more troubled.

    Contemporary Portugal

   Owing to its geographic location on the southwestern most edge of continental Europe, Portugal has been historically in but not of Europe. Almost from the beginning of its existence in the 12th century as an independent monarchy, Portugal turned its back on Europe and oriented itself toward the Atlantic Ocean. After carving out a Christian kingdom on the western portion of the Iberian peninsula, Portuguese kings gradually built and maintained a vast seaborne global empire that became central to the way Portugal understood its individuality as a nation-state. While the creation of this empire allows Portugal to claim an unusual number of "firsts" or distinctions in world and Western history, it also retarded Portugal's economic, social, and political development. It can be reasonably argued that the Revolution of 25 April 1974 was the most decisive event in Portugal's long history because it finally ended Portugal's oceanic mission and view of itself as an imperial power. After the 1974 Revolution, Portugal turned away from its global mission and vigorously reoriented itself toward Europe. Contemporary Portugal is now both in and of Europe.

   The turn toward Europe began immediately after 25 April 1974. Portugal granted independence to its African colonies in 1975. It was admitted to the European Council and took the first steps toward accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1976. On 28 March 1977, the Portuguese government officially applied for EEC membership. Because of Portugal's economic and social backwardness, which would require vast sums of EEC money to overcome, negotiations for membership were long and difficult. Finally, a treaty of accession was signed on 12 June 1985. Portugal officially joined the EEC (the European Union [EU] since 1993) on 1 January 1986. Since becoming a full-fledged member of the EU, Portugal has been steadily overcoming the economic and social underdevelopment caused by its imperial past and is becoming more like the rest of Europe.

   Membership in the EU has speeded up the structural transformation of Portugal's economy, which actually began during the Estado Novo. Investments made by the Estado Novo in Portugal's economy began to shift employment out of the agricultural sector, which, in 1950, accounted for 50 percent of Portugal's economically active population. Today, only 10 percent of the economically active population is employed in the agricultural sector (the highest among EU member states); 30 percent in the industrial sector (also the highest among EU member states); and 60 percent in the service sector (the lowest among EU member states). The economically active population numbers about 5,000,000 employed, 56 percent of whom are women. Women workers are the majority of the workforce in the agricultural and service sectors (the highest among the EU member states). The expansion of the service sector has been primarily in health care and education. Portugal has had the lowest unemployment rates among EU member states, with the overall rate never being more than 10 percent of the active population. Since joining the EU, the number of employers increased from 2.6 percent to 5.8 percent of the active population; self-employed from 16 to 19 percent; and employees from 65 to 70 percent. Twenty-six percent of the employers are women. Unemployment tends to hit younger workers in industry and transportation, women employed in domestic service, workers on short-term contracts, and poorly educated workers. Salaried workers earn only 63 percent of the EU average, and hourly workers only one-third to one-half of that earned by their EU counterparts. Despite having had the second highest growth of gross national product (GNP) per inhabitant (after Ireland) among EU member states, the above data suggest that while much has been accomplished in terms of modernizing the Portuguese economy, much remains to be done to bring Portugal's economy up to the level of the "average" EU member state.

   Membership in the EU has also speeded up changes in Portuguese society. Over the last 30 years, coastalization and urbanization have intensified. Fully 50 percent of Portuguese live in the coastal urban conurbations of Lisbon, Oporto, Braga, Aveiro, Coimbra, Viseu, Évora, and Faro. The Portuguese population is one of the oldest among EU member states (17.3 percent are 65 years of age or older) thanks to a considerable increase in life expectancy at birth (77.87 years for the total population, 74.6 years for men, 81.36 years for women) and one of the lowest birthrates (10.59 births/1,000) in Europe. Family size averages 2.8 persons per household, with the strict nuclear family (one or two generations) in which both parents work being typical. Common law marriages, cohabitating couples, and single-parent households are more and more common. The divorce rate has also increased. "Youth Culture" has developed. The young have their own meeting places, leisure-time activities, and nightlife (bars, clubs, and discos).

   All Portuguese citizens, whether they have contributed or not, have a right to an old-age pension, invalidity benefits, widowed persons' pension, as well as payments for disabilities, children, unemployment, and large families. There is a national minimum wage (€385 per month), which is low by EU standards. The rapid aging of Portugal's population has changed the ratio of contributors to pensioners to 1.7, the lowest in the EU. This has created deficits in Portugal's social security fund.

   The adult literacy rate is about 92 percent. Illiteracy is still found among the elderly. Although universal compulsory education up to grade 9 was achieved in 1980, only 21.2 percent of the population aged 25-64 had undergone secondary education, compared to an EU average of 65.7 percent. Portugal's higher education system currently consists of 14 state universities and 14 private universities, 15 state polytechnic institutions, one Catholic university, and one military academy. All in all, Portugal spends a greater percentage of its state budget on education than most EU member states. Despite this high level of expenditure, the troubled Portuguese education system does not perform well. Early leaving and repetition rates are among the highest among EU member states.

   After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal created a National Health Service, which today consists of 221 hospitals and 512 medical centers employing 33,751 doctors and 41,799 nurses. Like its education system, Portugal's medical system is inefficient. There are long waiting lists for appointments with specialists and for surgical procedures.

   Structural changes in Portugal's economy and society mean that social life in Portugal is not too different from that in other EU member states. A mass consumption society has been created. Televisions, telephones, refrigerators, cars, music equipment, mobile phones, and personal computers are commonplace. Sixty percent of Portuguese households possess at least one automobile, and 65 percent of Portuguese own their own home. Portuguese citizens are more aware of their legal rights than ever before. This has resulted in a trebling of the number of legal proceeding since 1960 and an eight-fold increase in the number of lawyers. In general, Portuguese society has become more permissive and secular; the Catholic Church and the armed forces are much less influential than in the past. Portugal's population is also much more culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse, a consequence of the coming to Portugal of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, mainly from former African colonies.

   Portuguese are becoming more cosmopolitan and sophisticated through the impact of world media, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. A prime case in point came in the summer and early fall of 1999, with the extraordinary events in East Timor and the massive Portuguese popular responses. An internationally monitored referendum in East Timor, Portugal's former colony in the Indonesian archipelago and under Indonesian occupation from late 1975 to summer 1999, resulted in a vote of 78.5 percent for rejecting integration with Indonesia and for independence. When Indonesian prointegration gangs, aided by the Indonesian military, responded to the referendum with widespread brutality and threatened to reverse the verdict of the referendum, there was a spontaneous popular outpouring of protest in the cities and towns of Portugal. An avalanche of Portuguese e-mail fell on leaders and groups in the UN and in certain countries around the world as Portugal's diplomats, perhaps to compensate for the weak initial response to Indonesian armed aggression in 1975, called for the protection of East Timor as an independent state and for UN intervention to thwart Indonesian action. Using global communications networks, the Portuguese were able to mobilize UN and world public opinion against Indonesian actions and aided the eventual independence of East Timor on 20 May 2002.

   From the Revolution of 25 April 1974 until the 1990s, Portugal had a large number of political parties, one of the largest Communist parties in western Europe, frequent elections, and endemic cabinet instability. Since the 1990s, the number of political parties has been dramatically reduced and cabinet stability increased. Gradually, the Portuguese electorate has concentrated around two larger parties, the right-of-center Social Democrats (PSD) and the left-of-center Socialist (PS). In the 1980s, these two parties together garnered 65 percent of the vote and 70 percent of the seats in parliament. In 2005, these percentages had risen to 74 percent and 85 percent, respectively. In effect, Portugal is currently a two-party dominant system in which the two largest parties — PS and PSD—alternate in and out of power, not unlike the rotation of the two main political parties (the Regenerators and the Historicals) during the last decades (1850s to 1880s) of the liberal constitutional monarchy. As Portugal's democracy has consolidated, turnout rates for the eligible electorate have declined. In the 1970s, turnout was 85 percent. In Portugal's most recent parliamentary election (2005), turnout had fallen to 65 percent of the eligible electorate.

   Portugal has benefited greatly from membership in the EU, and whatever doubts remain about the price paid for membership, no Portuguese government in the near future can afford to sever this connection. The vast majority of Portuguese citizens see membership in the EU as a "good thing" and strongly believe that Portugal has benefited from membership. Only the Communist Party opposed membership because it reduces national sovereignty, serves the interests of capitalists not workers, and suffers from a democratic deficit. Despite the high level of support for the EU, Portuguese voters are increasingly not voting in elections for the European Parliament, however. Turnout for European Parliament elections fell from 40 percent of the eligible electorate in the 1999 elections to 38 percent in the 2004 elections.

   In sum, Portugal's turn toward Europe has done much to overcome its backwardness. However, despite the economic, social, and political progress made since 1986, Portugal has a long way to go before it can claim to be on a par with the level found even in Spain, much less the rest of western Europe. As Portugal struggles to move from underde-velopment, especially in the rural areas away from the coast, it must keep in mind the perils of too rapid modern development, which could damage two of its most precious assets: its scenery and environment. The growth and future prosperity of the economy will depend on the degree to which the government and the private sector will remain stewards of clean air, soil, water, and other finite resources on which the tourism industry depends and on which Portugal's world image as a unique place to visit rests. Currently, Portugal is investing heavily in renewable energy from solar, wind, and wave power in order to account for about 50 percent of its electricity needs by 2010. Portugal opened the world's largest solar power plant and the world's first commercial wave power farm in 2006.

   An American documentary film on Portugal produced in the 1970s described this little country as having "a Past in Search of a Future." In the years after the Revolution of 25 April 1974, it could be said that Portugal is now living in "a Present in Search of a Future." Increasingly, that future lies in Europe as an active and productive member of the EU.

Historical dictionary of Portugal > Historical Portugal
10 Edison, Thomas Alva

SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building, Automotive engineering, Electricity, Electronics and information technology, Metallurgy, Photography, film and optics, Public utilities, Recording, Telecommunications

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b. 11 February 1847 Milan, Ohio, USA

d. 18 October 1931 Glenmont

[br]

American inventor and pioneer electrical developer.

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He was the son of Samuel Edison, who was in the timber business. His schooling was delayed due to scarlet fever until 1855, when he was 8½ years old, but he was an avid reader. By the age of 14 he had a job as a newsboy on the railway from Port Huron to Detroit, a distance of sixty-three miles (101 km). He worked a fourteen-hour day with a stopover of five hours, which he spent in the Detroit Free Library. He also sold sweets on the train and, later, fruit and vegetables, and was soon making a profit of $20 a week. He then started two stores in Port Huron and used a spare freight car as a laboratory. He added a hand-printing press to produce 400 copies weekly of The Grand Trunk Herald, most of which he compiled and edited himself. He set himself to learn telegraphy from the station agent at Mount Clements, whose son he had saved from being run over by a freight car.

At the age of 16 he became a telegraphist at Port Huron. In 1863 he became railway telegraphist at the busy Stratford Junction of the Grand Trunk Railroad, arranging a clock with a notched wheel to give the hourly signal which was to prove that he was awake and at his post! He left hurriedly after failing to hold a train which was nearly involved in a head-on collision. He usually worked the night shift, allowing himself time for experiments during the day. His first invention was an arrangement of two Morse registers so that a high-speed input could be decoded at a slower speed. Moving from place to place he held many positions as a telegraphist. In Boston he invented an automatic vote recorder for Congress and patented it, but the idea was rejected. This was the first of a total of 1180 patents that he was to take out during his lifetime. After six years he resigned from the Western Union Company to devote all his time to invention, his next idea being an improved ticker-tape machine for stockbrokers. He developed a duplex telegraphy system, but this was turned down by the Western Union Company. He then moved to New York.

Edison found accommodation in the battery room of Law's Gold Reporting Company, sleeping in the cellar, and there his repair of a broken transmitter marked him as someone of special talents. His superior soon resigned, and he was promoted with a salary of $300 a month. Western Union paid him $40,000 for the sole rights on future improvements on the duplex telegraph, and he moved to Ward Street, Newark, New Jersey, where he employed a gathering of specialist engineers. Within a year, he married one of his employees, Mary Stilwell, when she was only 16: a daughter, Marion, was born in 1872, and two sons, Thomas and William, in 1876 and 1879, respectively.

He continued to work on the automatic telegraph, a device to send out messages faster than they could be tapped out by hand: that is, over fifty words per minute or so. An earlier machine by Alexander Bain worked at up to 400 words per minute, but was not good over long distances. Edison agreed to work on improving this feature of Bain's machine for the Automatic Telegraph Company (ATC) for $40,000. He improved it to a working speed of 500 words per minute and ran a test between Washington and New York. Hoping to sell their equipment to the Post Office in Britain, ATC sent Edison to England in 1873 to negotiate. A 500-word message was to be sent from Liverpool to London every half-hour for six hours, followed by tests on 2,200 miles (3,540 km) of cable at Greenwich. Only confused results were obtained due to induction in the cable, which lay coiled in a water tank. Edison returned to New York, where he worked on his quadruplex telegraph system, tests of which proved a success between New York and Albany in December 1874. Unfortunately, simultaneous negotiation with Western Union and ATC resulted in a lawsuit.

Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for a telephone in March 1876 while Edison was still working on the same idea. His improvements allowed the device to operate over a distance of hundreds of miles instead of only a few miles. Tests were carried out over the 106 miles (170 km) between New York and Philadelphia. Edison applied for a patent on the carbon-button transmitter in April 1877, Western Union agreeing to pay him $6,000 a year for the seventeen-year duration of the patent. In these years he was also working on the development of the electric lamp and on a duplicating machine which would make up to 3,000 copies from a stencil. In 1876–7 he moved from Newark to Menlo Park, twenty-four miles (39 km) from New York on the Pennsylvania Railway, near Elizabeth. He had bought a house there around which he built the premises that would become his "inventions factory". It was there that he began the use of his 200- page pocket notebooks, each of which lasted him about two weeks, so prolific were his ideas. When he died he left 3,400 of them filled with notes and sketches.

Late in 1877 he applied for a patent for a phonograph which was granted on 19 February 1878, and by the end of the year he had formed a company to manufacture this totally new product. At the time, Edison saw the device primarily as a business aid rather than for entertainment, rather as a dictating machine. In August 1878 he was granted a British patent. In July 1878 he tried to measure the heat from the solar corona at a solar eclipse viewed from Rawlins, Wyoming, but his "tasimeter" was too sensitive.

Probably his greatest achievement was "The Subdivision of the Electric Light" or the "glow bulb". He tried many materials for the filament before settling on carbon. He gave a demonstration of electric light by lighting up Menlo Park and inviting the public. Edison was, of course, faced with the problem of inventing and producing all the ancillaries which go to make up the electrical system of generation and distribution-meters, fuses, insulation, switches, cabling—even generators had to be designed and built; everything was new. He started a number of manufacturing companies to produce the various components needed.

In 1881 he built the world's largest generator, which weighed 27 tons, to light 1,200 lamps at the Paris Exhibition. It was later moved to England to be used in the world's first central power station with steam engine drive at Holborn Viaduct, London. In September 1882 he started up his Pearl Street Generating Station in New York, which led to a worldwide increase in the application of electric power, particularly for lighting. At the same time as these developments, he built a 1,300yd (1,190m) electric railway at Menlo Park.

On 9 August 1884 his wife died of typhoid. Using his telegraphic skills, he proposed to 19-year-old Mina Miller in Morse code while in the company of others on a train. He married her in February 1885 before buying a new house and estate at West Orange, New Jersey, building a new laboratory not far away in the Orange Valley.

Edison used direct current which was limited to around 250 volts. Alternating current was largely developed by George Westinghouse and Nicola Tesla, using transformers to step up the current to a higher voltage for long-distance transmission. The use of AC gradually overtook the Edison DC system.

In autumn 1888 he patented a form of cinephotography, the kinetoscope, obtaining film-stock from George Eastman. In 1893 he set up the first film studio, which was pivoted so as to catch the sun, with a hinged roof which could be raised. In 1894 kinetoscope parlours with "peep shows" were starting up in cities all over America. Competition came from the Latham Brothers with a screen-projection machine, which Edison answered with his "Vitascope", shown in New York in 1896. This showed pictures with accompanying sound, but there was some difficulty with synchronization. Edison also experimented with captions at this early date.

In 1880 he filed a patent for a magnetic ore separator, the first of nearly sixty. He bought up deposits of low-grade iron ore which had been developed in the north of New Jersey. The process was a commercial success until the discovery of iron-rich ore in Minnesota rendered it uneconomic and uncompetitive. In 1898 cement rock was discovered in New Village, west of West Orange. Edison bought the land and started cement manufacture, using kilns twice the normal length and using half as much fuel to heat them as the normal type of kiln. In 1893 he met Henry Ford, who was building his second car, at an Edison convention. This started him on the development of a battery for an electric car on which he made over 9,000 experiments. In 1903 he sold his patent for wireless telegraphy "for a song" to Guglielmo Marconi.

In 1910 Edison designed a prefabricated concrete house. In December 1914 fire destroyed three-quarters of the West Orange plant, but it was at once rebuilt, and with the threat of war Edison started to set up his own plants for making all the chemicals that he had previously been buying from Europe, such as carbolic acid, phenol, benzol, aniline dyes, etc. He was appointed President of the Navy Consulting Board, for whom, he said, he made some forty-five inventions, "but they were pigeonholed, every one of them". Thus did Edison find that the Navy did not take kindly to civilian interference.

In 1927 he started the Edison Botanic Research Company, founded with similar investment from Ford and Firestone with the object of finding a substitute for overseas-produced rubber. In the first year he tested no fewer than 3,327 possible plants, in the second year, over 1,400, eventually developing a variety of Golden Rod which grew to 14 ft (4.3 m) in height. However, all this effort and money was wasted, due to the discovery of synthetic rubber.

In October 1929 he was present at Henry Ford's opening of his Dearborn Museum to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the incandescent lamp, including a replica of the Menlo Park laboratory. He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and was elected to the American Academy of Sciences. He died in 1931 at his home, Glenmont; throughout the USA, lights were dimmed temporarily on the day of his funeral.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

Member of the American Academy of Sciences. Congressional Gold Medal.

Further Reading

M.Josephson, 1951, Edison, Eyre \& Spottiswode.

R.W.Clark, 1977, Edison, the Man who Made the Future, Macdonald \& Jane.

IMcN

Biographical history of technology > Edison, Thomas Alva
11 prior

I
adjective
1) (already arranged for the same time: a prior engagement.) previo, anterior

2) (more important: She gave up her job as she felt her family had a prior claim on her attention.) prioritario

•

- priority
- prior to
II
feminine - prioress; noun
(the head of a priory.) prior; priora

- priory

prior,-a m,f (hombre) prior (mujer) prioress ' prior' also found in these entries: Spanish: anterioridad - cita - octava - octavo - previa - previo - priora - antelación - anterior - avisar - aviso - víspera English: engagement - prior - warning

prior

tr['praɪə^SMALLr/SMALL]

adjective

1 anterior, previo,-a

■ I have to refuse because of a prior engagement no puedo aceptar debido a un compromiso previo

■ they raised the rent without prior warning subieron el alquiler sin previo aviso

\

SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALL

prior to antes de

to have a prior claim on/to something tener prioridad sobre algo

————————

prior

tr['praɪə^SMALLr/SMALL]

noun

1 SMALLRELIGION/SMALL prior nombre masculino

prior ['praɪər] adj

1) : previo

2)

prior to : antes de

prior

adj.

• anterior adj.

• previo, -a adj.

n.

• anterior s.m.

• prior s.m.

I 'praɪər, 'praɪə(r)
adjective (before n) <knowledge/warning> previo

I had a prior engagement — ya tenía un compromiso, tenía un compromiso previo

prior to — (as prep) antes de

II

noun prior m

I ['praɪǝ(r)]
1. ADJ

1) (=previous) previo

I have a prior engagement — tengo un compromiso previo

• to have a prior claim to or on sth/sb, there are others who have a prior claim on my time — hay otros a los que tengo que dedicar mi tiempo que tienen prioridad or están antes

she felt that her past connection with him gave her a prior claim to him — le parecía que su pasada relación le daba ciertos derechos sobre él

• without prior notice/ warning — sin previo aviso

2) (=earlier) [week, month, year] anterior

in prior years — en años anteriores

2.

ADV
frm
prior to sth — anterior or previo a algo

prior to doing sth — antes de hacer algo

prior to (his) leaving he hid the money — antes de marchar, escondió el dinero

in the years prior to his death — en los años anteriores or previos a su muerte

prior to that day we had not met — antes de ese día no nos conocíamos, hasta ese día no nos conocimos

prior to this/that — antes de esto/eso

3.

ADV (US) antes

it happened two days prior — ocurrió dos días antes

II

['praɪǝ(r)]
N (Rel) prior m
* * *

I ['praɪər, 'praɪə(r)]
adjective (before n) <knowledge/warning> previo

I had a prior engagement — ya tenía un compromiso, tenía un compromiso previo

prior to — (as prep) antes de

II

noun prior m

English-spanish dictionary > prior
12 Baekeland, Leo Hendrik

SUBJECT AREA: Chemical technology, Photography, film and optics, Synthetic materials

[br]

b. 14 November 1863 Saint-Martens-Latern, Belgium

d. 23 February 1944 Beacon, New York, USA

[br]

Belgian/American inventor of the Velox photographic process and the synthetic plastic Bakélite.

[br]

The son of an illiterate shoemaker, Baekeland was first apprenticed in that trade, but was encouraged by his mother to study, with spectacular results. He won a scholarship to Gand University and graduated in chemistry. Before he was 21 he had achieved his doctorate, and soon afterwards he obtained professorships at Bruges and then at Gand. Baekeland seemed set for a distinguished academic career, but he turned towards the industrial applications of chemistry, especially in photography.

Baekeland travelled to New York to further this interest, but his first inventions met with little success so he decided to concentrate on one that seemed to have distinct commercial possibilities. This was a photographic paper that could be developed in artificial light; he called this "gas light" paper Velox, using the less sensitive silver chloride as a light-sensitive agent. It proved to have good properties and was easy to use, at a time of photography's rising popularity. By 1896 the process began to be profitable, and three years later Baekeland disposed of his plant to Eastman Kodak for a handsome sum, said to be $3–4 million. That enabled him to retire from business and set up a laboratory at Yonkers to pursue his own research, including on synthetic resins. Several chemists had earlier obtained resinous products from the reaction between phenol and formaldehyde but had ignored them. By 1907 Baekeland had achieved sufficient control over the reaction to obtain a good thermosetting resin which he called "Bakélite". It showed good electrical insulation and resistance to chemicals, and was unchanged by heat. It could be moulded while plastic and would then set hard on heating, with its only drawback being its brittleness. Bakelite was an immediate success in the electrical industry and Baekeland set up the General Bakelite Company in 1910 to manufacture and market the product. The firm grew steadily, becoming the Bakélite Corporation in 1924, with Baekeland still as active President.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

President, Electrochemical Society 1909. President, American Chemical Society 1924. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences 1936.

Further Reading

J.Gillis, 1965, Leo Baekeland, Brussels.

A.R.Matthis, 1948, Leo H.Baekeland, Professeur, Docteur ès Sciences, chimiste, inventeur et grand industriel, Brussels.

J.K.Mumford, 1924, The Story of Bakélite.

C.F.Kettering, 1947, memoir on Baekeland, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences 24 (includes a list of his honours and publications).

LRD

Biographical history of technology > Baekeland, Leo Hendrik
13 before

be·fore [bɪʼfɔ:ʳ, Am -ʼfɔ:r] prep

1) ( at previous time to) vor +dat;

to wash one's hands \before the meal sich dat vor dem Essen die Hände waschen;

I need to go \before 2:00 ich muss vor 2.00 Uhr gehen;

the day \before yesterday vorgestern;

\before one's time vorzeitig;

just \before sth kurz vor etw;

she always buys her Christmas presents just \before Christmas sie kauft ihre Weihnachtsgeschenke immer kurz vor Weihnachten;

\before doing sth vor etw dat;

\before leaving he said goodbye to each of them vor seiner Abfahrt verabschiedete er sich von jedem Einzelnen

2) ( in front of) vor +dat with verbs of motion vor +akk;

the letter K comes \before L der Buchstabe K kommt vor dem L;

the patterns swam \before her eyes die Zeichen verschwammen vor ihren Augen;

( encountered first) vor +dat;

there is a large sign \before the house vor dem Haus ist ein großes Schild;

just \before genau vor +dat;

the bus stop is just \before the school die Bushaltestelle befindet sich direkt vor der Schule

3) ( higher ranking) vor +dat;

many mothers put their children's needs \before their own vielen Müttern sind die Bedürfnisse ihrer Kinder wichtiger als ihre eigenen;

I'd go to debtors' prison \before asking her for money ich würde wegen der Schulden eher ins Gefängnis gehen als sie nach Geld zu fragen

4) ( in presence of) vor +dat;

he stood up \before the audience er stand vor dem Publikum auf;

(for examination, consideration) vor +dat;

our case is coming \before the court this week unser Fall kommt diese Woche vor Gericht

5) ( in future) vor +dat;

to lie \before one vor jdm liegen;

the job lay \before them die Arbeit lag vor ihnen;

to have sth \before one etw vor sich dat haben;

you have your whole future \before you du hast noch deine ganze Zukunft vor dir adv

inv (earlier, previously) zuvor, vorher;

I have never seen that \before das habe ich noch nie gesehen;

have you been to Cologne \before? waren Sie schon einmal in Köln?;

haven't we met \before? kennen wir uns nicht?;

that has never happened \before das ist [bisher] noch nie passiert;

she has seen it all \before sie kennt das alles schon;

to be as \before wie früher sein;

\before and after davor und danach adj

after n zuvor;

the day \before it had rained tags zuvor hatte es geregnet;

the year \before it had been rather quiet das Vorjahr war ganz ruhig verlaufen conj

1) ( at previous time) bevor;

\before you criticize me,... bevor du mich kritisierst,...;

she was waiting long \before it was time sie wartete schon lange, bevor es so weit war;

right [or just] \before... kurz bevor...;

just \before she left the house,... als sie gerade das Haus verlassen wollte,...;

but \before I knew it, she was gone doch ehe ich mich versah, war sie verschwunden

2) ( rather than) bevor, ehe;

\before they testified against their friends, they said they'd go to jail sie würden eher ins Gefängnis gehen als gegen ihre Freunde auszusagen;

they would die \before they would cooperate with each other sie würden lieber sterben als miteinander zusammenzuarbeiten

3) ( until) bis;

it was an hour \before the police arrived es dauerte eine Stunde, bis die Polizei eintraf;

\before we got the test results back, a month had gone by wir warteten einen Monat auf die Testergebnisse

4) ( so that) damit;

you must say the password at the door \before they'll let you in du musst an der Tür das Kennwort sagen, damit sie dich hineinlassen

English-German students dictionary > before
14 Lubetkin, Berthold

SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building

[br]

b. 12 December 1901 Tiflis, Georgia

d. 23 October 1990 Bristol, England

[br]

Soviet émigré architect who, through the firm of Tecton, wins influential in introducing architecture of the modern international style into England.

[br]

Lubetkin studied in Moscow, where in the years immediately after 1917 he met Vesnin and Rodchenko and absorbed the contemporary Constructivist ideas. He then moved on to Paris and worked with Auguste Perret, coming in on the ground floor of the modern movement. He went to England in 1930 and two years later formed the Tecton group, leading six young architects who had newly graduated from the Architectural Association in London. Lubetkin's early commissions in England were for animals rather than humans. He designed the gorilla house (1932) at the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, after which came his award-winning Penguin Pool there, a sculptural blend of curved planes in reinforced concrete. He also worked at Whipsnade and at Dudley Zoo. The name of Tecton had quickly became synonymous with modern methods of design and structure, particularly the use of reinforced concrete; such work was not common in the 1930s in Britain. In 1938–9 the firm was responsible for another pace-setting design, the Finsbury Health Centre in London. Tecton was disbanded during the Second World War, and although it was reformed in the late 1940s it did not recover its initiative in leading the field of modern work. Lubetkin lived on to be an old man but his post-war career did not fulfil his earlier promise and brilliance. He was appointed Architect-Planner of the Peterlee New Town in 1948, but he resigned after a few years and no other notable commissions materialized. In 1982 the Royal Institute of British Architects belatedly remembered him with the award of their Gold Medal.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

RIBA Gold Medal 1982.

Further Reading

John Allan, 1992, Architecture and the Tradition of Progress, RIBA publications. R.Furneaux Jordan, 1955, "Lubetkin", Architectural Review 36–44.

P.Coe and M.Reading, 1981, Lubetkin and Tecton, University of Bristol Arts Council.

DY

Biographical history of technology > Lubetkin, Berthold
15 Mees, Charles Edward Kenneth

SUBJECT AREA: Photography, film and optics

[br]

b. 1882 Wellingborough, England

d. 1960 USA

[br]

Anglo-American photographic scientist and Director of Research at the Kodak Research Laboratory.

[br]

The son of a Wesleyan minister, Mees was interested in chemistry from an early age and studied at St Dunstan's College in Catford, where he met Samuel E.Sheppard, with whom he went on to University College London in 1900. They worked together on a thesis for BSc degrees in 1903, developing the work begun by Hurter and Driffield on photographic sensitometry. This and other research papers were published in 1907 in the book Investigations on the Theory of the Photographic Process, which became a standard reference work. After obtaining a doctorate in 1906, Mees joined the firm of Wratten \& Wainwright (see F.C.L.Wratten), manufacturers of dry plates in Croydon; he started work on 1 April 1906, first tackling the problem of manufacturing colour-sensitive emulsions and enabling the company to market the first fully panchromatic plates from the end of that year.

During the next few years Mees ran the commercial operation of the company as Managing Director and carried out research into new products, including filters for use with the new emulsions. In January 1912 he was visited by George Eastman, the American photographic manufacturer, who asked him to go to Rochester, New York, and set up a photographic research laboratory in the Kodak factory there. Wratten was prepared to release Mees on condition that Eastman bought the company; thus, Wratten and Wainwright became part of Kodak Ltd, and Mees left for America. He supervised the construction of a building in the heart of Kodak Park, and the building was fully equipped not only as a research laboratory, but also with facilities for coating and packing sensitized materials. It also had the most comprehensive library of photographic books in the world. Work at the laboratory started at the beginning of 1913, with a staff of twenty recruited from America and England, including Mees's collaborator of earlier years, Sheppard. Under Mees's direction there flowed from the Kodak research Laboratory a constant stream of discoveries, many of them leading to new products. Among these were the 16 mm amateur film-making system launched in 1923; the first amateur colour-movie system, Kodacolor, in 1928; and 8 mm home movies, in 1932. His support for the young experimenters Mannes and Godowsky, who were working on colour photography, led to their joining the Research Laboratory and to the introduction of the first multi-layer colour film, Kodachrome, in 1935. Eastman had agreed from the beginning that as much of the laboratory's work as possible should be published, and Mees himself wrote prolifically, publishing over 200 articles and ten books. While he made significant contributions to the understanding of the photographic process, particularly through his early research, it is his creation and organization of the Kodak Research Laboratory that is his lasting memorial. His interests were many and varied, including Egyptology, astronomy, marine biology and history. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

FRS.

Bibliography

1961, From Dry Plates to Ektachrome Film, New York (partly autobiographical).

BC

Biographical history of technology > Mees, Charles Edward Kenneth
16 Issigonis, Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine (Alec)

SUBJECT AREA: Automotive engineering, Land transport

[br]

b. 18 November 1906 Smyrna (now Izmir), Turkey

d. 2 October 1988 Birmingham, England

[br]

British automobile designer whose work included the Morris Minor and the Mini series.

[br]

His father was of Greek descent but was a naturalized British subject in Turkey who ran a marine engineering business. After the First World War, the British in Turkey were evacuated by the Royal Navy, the Issigonis family among them. His father died en route in Malta, but the rest of the family arrived in England in 1922. Alec studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic for three years and in 1928 was employed as a draughtsman by a firm of consulting engineers in Victoria Street who were working on a form of automatic transmission. He had occasion to travel frequently in the Midlands at this time and visited many factories in the automobile industry. He was offered a job in the drawing office at Humber and lived for a couple of years in Kenilworth. While there he met Robert Boyle, Chief Engineer of Morris Motors (see Morris, William Richard), who offered him a job at Cowley. There he worked at first on the design of independent front suspension. At Morris Motors, he designed the Morris Minor, which entered production in 1948 and continued to be manufactured until 1971. Issigonis disliked mergers, and after the merger of Morris with Austin to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC) he left to join Alvis in 1952. The car he designed there, a V8 saloon, was built as a prototype but was never put into production. Following his return to BMC to become Technical Director in 1955, his most celebrated design was the Mini series, which entered production in 1959. This was a radically new concept: it was unique for its combination of a transversely mounted engine in unit with the gearbox, front wheel drive and rubber suspension system. This suspension system, designed in cooperation with Alex Moulton, was also a fundamental innovation, developed from the system designed by Moulton for the earlier Alvis prototype. Issigonis remained as Technical Director of BMC until his retirement.

[br]

Further Reading

Peter King, 1989, The Motor Men. Pioneers of the British Motor Industry, London: Quiller Press.

IMcN

Biographical history of technology > Issigonis, Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine (Alec)
17 Stringfellow, John

SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

[br]

b. 6 December 1799 Sheffield, England

d. 13 December 1883 Chard, England

[br]

English inventor and builder of a series of experimental model aeroplanes.

[br]

After serving an apprenticeship in the lace industry, Stringfellow left Nottingham in about 1820 and moved to Chard in Somerset, where he set up his own business. He had wide interests such as photography, politics, and the use of electricity for medical treatment. Stringfellow met William Samuel Henson, who also lived in Chard and was involved in lacemaking, and became interested in his "aerial steam carriage" of 1842–3. When support for this project foundered, Henson and Stringfellow drew up an agreement "Whereas it is intended to construct a model of an Aerial Machine". They built a large model with a wing span of 20 ft (6 m) and powered by a steam engine, which was probably the work of Stringfellow. The model was tested on a hillside near Chard, often at night to avoid publicity, but despite many attempts it never made a successful flight. At this point Henson emigrated to the United States. From 1848 Stringfellow continued to experiment with models of his own design, starting with one with a wing span of 10 ft (3m). He decided to test it in a disused lace factory, rather than in the open air. Stringfellow fitted a horizontal wire which supported the model as it gained speed prior to free flight. Unfortunately, neither this nor later models made a sustained flight, despite Stringfellow's efficient lightweight steam engine. For many years Stringfellow abandoned his aeronautical experiments, then in 1866 when the (Royal) Aeronautical Society was founded, his interest was revived. He built a steam-powered triplane, which was demonstrated "flying" along a wire at the world's first Aeronautical Exhibition, held at Crystal Palace, London, in 1868. Stringfellow also received a cash prize for one of his engines, which was the lightest practical power unit at the Exhibition. Although Stringfellow's models never achieved a really successful flight, his designs showed the way for others to follow. Several of his models are preserved in the Science Museum in London.

[br]

Principal Honours and Distinctions

Member of the (Royal) Aeronautical Society 1868.

Bibliography

Many of Stringfellow's letters and papers are held by the Royal Aeronautical Society, London.

Further Reading

Harald Penrose, 1988, An Ancient Air: A Biography of John Stringfellow, Shrewsbury. A.M.Balantyne and J.Laurence Pritchard, 1956, "The lives and work of William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow", Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society (June) (an attempt to analyse conflicting evidence).

M.J.B.Davy, 1931, Henson and Stringfellow, London (an earlier work with excellent drawings from Henson's patent).

"The aeronautical work of John Stringfellow, with some account of W.S.Henson", Aeronau-tical Classics No. 5 (written by John Stringfellow's son and held by the Royal Aeronautical Society in London).

JDS

Biographical history of technology > Stringfellow, John

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Словари и энциклопедии на Академике

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