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81 Locke, Joseph
[br]b. 9 August 1805 Attercliffe, Yorkshire, Englandd. 18 September 1860 Moffat, Scotland[br]English civil engineer who built many important early main-line railways.[br]Joseph Locke was the son of a colliery viewer who had known George Stephenson in Northumberland before moving to Yorkshire: Locke himself became a pupil of Stephenson in 1823. He worked with Robert Stephenson at Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s locomotive works and surveyed railways, including the Leeds \& Selby and the Canterbury \& Whitstable, for George Stephenson.When George Stephenson was appointed Chief Engineer for construction of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway in 1826, the first resident engineer whom he appointed to work under him was Locke, who took a prominent part in promoting traction by locomotives rather than by fixed engines with cable haulage. The pupil eventually excelled the master and in 1835 Locke was appointed in place of Stephenson as Chief Engineer for construction of the Grand Junction Railway. He introduced double-headed rails carried in chairs on wooden sleepers, the prototype of the bullhead track that became standard on British railways for more than a century. By preparing the most detailed specifications, Locke was able to estimate the cost of the railway much more accurately than was usual at that time, and it was built at a cost close to the estimate; this made his name. He became Engineer to the London \& Southampton Railway and completed the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyme \& Manchester Railway, including the 3-mile (3.8 km) Woodhead Tunnel, which had been started by Charles Vignoles. He was subsequently responsible for many British main lines, including those of the companies that extended the West Coast Route northwards from Preston to Scotland. He was also Engineer to important early main lines in France, notably that from Paris to Rouen and its extension to Le Havre, and in Spain and Holland. In 1847 Locke was elected MP for Honiton.Locke appreciated early in his career that steam locomotives able to operate over gradients steeper than at first thought practicable would be developed. Overall his monument is not great individual works of engineering, such as the famous bridges of his close contemporaries Robert Stephenson and I.K. Brunel, but a series of lines built economically but soundly through rugged country without such works; for example, the line over Shap, Cumbria.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsOfficier de la Légion d'honneur, France. FRS. President, Institution of Civil Engineers 1858–9.Further ReadingObituary, 1861, Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 20. L.T.C.Rolt, 1962, Great Engineers, London: G. Bell \& Sons, ch. 6.Industrial Heritage, 1991, Vol. 9(2):9.See also: Brassey, ThomasPJGR -
82 Cravat
A neckcloth or neckerchief. The cravat all of lace, or of fine linen with ends of lace, is seen at the close of the reign of Charles II in England. For a cravat of Venice lace to wear at his Coronation, Charles II was charged ???36 10s. 6d. In William III's reign it was worn very long by men of fashion, and later it became known as a " neckcloth." Prices from Royalty for fine point lace came to as much as ???158 for " 6 point cravats." The battle of Steinkerque, 1692, introduced a new fashioned cravat which was adopted by women as well as men in France. It was reported that the French officers, dressing in great haste twisted their cravats carelessly round the neck, and in commemoration of the victory a similar negligent mode of wearing it obtained for it the name of " Steinkerque." In 1697 is recorded in England, " I hope your lordship is pleased with your steinkerk." The cravats and steinkerks were ousted by stocks and frills, but the neckcloth appeared towards the end of the 17th century. -
83 descendant
[dɪ'sendənt]nome discendente m. e f., rampollo m.* * *noun (the child, grandchild, great-grandchild etc of a person: This is a photograph of my grandmother with all her descendants.) discendente* * *descendant /dɪˈsɛndənt/n. (demogr., leg.)1 discendente: the descendants of the ancient Etruscans, i discendenti degli antichi etruschi; a direct descendant of Charles Dickens, un discendente diretto di Charles Dickens2 ( di macchina, sistema, ecc.) erede: Today's computers are the descendants of Turing's machine, i computer di oggi sono gli eredi della macchina di Turing.* * *[dɪ'sendənt]nome discendente m. e f., rampollo m. -
84 Bain, Alexander
[br]b. October 1810 Watten, Scotlandd. 2 January 1877 Kirkintilloch, Scotland[br]Scottish inventor and entrepreneur who laid the foundations of electrical horology and designed an electromagnetic means of transmitting images (facsimile).[br]Alexander Bain was born into a crofting family in a remote part of Scotland. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker in Wick and during that time he was strongly influenced by a lecture on "Heat, sound and electricity" that he heard in nearby Thurso. This lecture induced him to take up a position in Clerkenwell in London, working as a journeyman clockmaker, where he was able to further his knowledge of electricity by attending lectures at the Adelaide Gallery and the Polytechnic Institution. His thoughts naturally turned to the application of electricity to clockmaking, and despite a bitter dispute with Charles Wheatstone over priority he was granted the first British patent for an electric clock. This patent, taken out on 11 January 1841, described a mechanism for an electric clock, in which an oscillating component of the clock operated a mechanical switch that initiated an electromagnetic pulse to maintain the regular, periodic motion. This principle was used in his master clock, produced in 1845. On 12 December of the same year, he patented a means of using electricity to control the operation of steam railway engines via a steam-valve. His earliest patent was particularly far-sighted and anticipated most of the developments in electrical horology that occurred during the nineteenth century. He proposed the use of electricity not only to drive clocks but also to distribute time over a distance by correcting the hands of mechanical clocks, synchronizing pendulums and using slave dials (here he was anticipated by Steinheil). However, he was less successful in putting these ideas into practice, and his electric clocks proved to be unreliable. Early electric clocks had two weaknesses: the battery; and the switching mechanism that fed the current to the electromagnets. Bain's earth battery, patented in 1843, overcame the first defect by providing a reasonably constant current to drive his clocks, but unlike Hipp he failed to produce a reliable switch.The application of Bain's numerous patents for electric telegraphy was more successful, and he derived most of his income from these. They included a patent of 12 December 1843 for a form of fax machine, a chemical telegraph that could be used for the transmission of text and of images (facsimile). At the receiver, signals were passed through a moving band of paper impregnated with a solution of ammonium nitrate and potassium ferrocyanide. For text, Morse code signals were used, and because the system could respond to signals faster than those generated by hand, perforated paper tape was used to transmit the messages; in a trial between Paris and Lille, 282 words were transmitted in less than one minute. In 1865 the Abbé Caselli, a French engineer, introduced a commercial fax service between Paris and Lyons, based on Bain's device. Bain also used the idea of perforated tape to operate musical wind instruments automatically. Bain squandered a great deal of money on litigation, initially with Wheatstone and then with Morse in the USA. Although his inventions were acknowledged, Bain appears to have received no honours, but when towards the end of his life he fell upon hard times, influential persons in 1873 secured for him a Civil List Pension of £80 per annum and the Royal Society gave him £150.[br]Bibliography1841, British patent no. 8,783; 1843, British patent no. 9,745; 1845, British patent no.10,838; 1847, British patent no. 11,584; 1852, British patent no. 14,146 (all for electric clocks).1852, A Short History of the Electric Clocks with Explanation of Their Principles andMechanism and Instruction for Their Management and Regulation, London; reprinted 1973, introd. W.Hackmann, London: Turner \& Devereux (as the title implies, this pamphlet was probably intended for the purchasers of his clocks).Further ReadingThe best account of Bain's life and work is in papers by C.A.Aked in Antiquarian Horology: "Electricity, magnetism and clocks" (1971) 7: 398–415; "Alexander Bain, the father of electrical horology" (1974) 9:51–63; "An early electric turret clock" (1975) 7:428–42. These papers were reprinted together (1976) in A Conspectus of Electrical Timekeeping, Monograph No. 12, Antiquarian Horological Society: Tilehurst.J.Finlaison, 1834, An Account of Some Remarkable Applications of the Electric Fluid to the Useful Arts by Alexander Bain, London (a contemporary account between Wheatstone and Bain over the invention of the electric clock).J.Munro, 1891, Heroes of the Telegraph, Religious Tract Society.J.Malster \& M.J.Bowden, 1976, "Facsimile. A Review", Radio \&Electronic Engineer 46:55.D.J.Weaver, 1982, Electrical Clocks and Watches, Newnes.T.Hunkin, 1993, "Just give me the fax", New Scientist (13 February):33–7 (provides details of Bain's and later fax devices).See also: Bakewell, Frederick C.DV / KF -
85 Egerton, Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 21 May 1736d. 9 March 1803 London, England[br]English entrepreneur, described as the "father of British inland navigation".[br]Francis Egerton was the younger of the two surviving sons of Scroop, 1st Duke of Bridgewater, and on the death of his brother, the 2nd Duke, he succeeded to the title in 1748. Until that time he had received little or no education as his mother considered him to be of feeble intellect. His guardians, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Trentham, decided he should be given an opportunity and sent him to Eton in 1749. He remained there for three years and then went on the "grand tour" of Europe. During this period he saw the Canal du Midi, though whether this was the spark that ignited his interest in canals is hard to say. On his return to England he indulged in the social round in London and raced at Newmarket. After two unsuccessful attempts at marriage he retired to Lancashire to further his mining interests at Worsley, where the construction of a canal to Manchester was already being considered. In fact, the Act for the Bridgewater Canal had been passed at the time he left London. John Gilbert, his land agent at Worsley, encouraged the Duke to pursue the canal project, which had received parliamentary approval in March 1759. Brindley had been recommended on account of his work at Trentham, the estate of the Duke's brother-in-law, and Brindley was consulted and subsequently appointed Engineer; the canal opened on 17 July 1761. This was immediately followed by an extension project from Longford Brook to Runcorn to improve communications between Manchester and Liverpool; this was completed on 31 December 1772, after Brindley's death. The Duke also invested heavily in the Trent \& Mersey Canal, but his interests were confined to his mines and the completed canals for the rest of his life.It is said that he lacked a sense of humour and even refused to read books. He was untidy in his dress and habits yet he was devoted to the Worsley undertakings. When travelling to Worsley he would have his coach placed on a barge so that he could inspect the canal during the journey. He amassed a great fortune from his various activities, but when he died, instead of leaving his beloved canal to the beneficiaries under his will, he created a trust to ensure that the canal would endure; the trust did not expire until 1903. The Duke is commemorated by a large Corinthian pillar, which is now in the care of the National Trust, in the grounds of his mansion at Ashridge, Hertfordshire.[br]Further ReadingH.Malet, 1961, The Canal Duke, Dawlish: David \& Charles.JHBBiographical history of technology > Egerton, Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater
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86 Elder, John
[br]b. 9 March 1824 Glasgow, Scotlandd. 17 September 1869 London, England[br]Scottish engineer who introduced the compound steam engine to ships and established an important shipbuilding company in Glasgow.[br]John was the third son of David Elder. The father came from a family of millwrights and moved to Glasgow where he worked for the well-known shipbuilding firm of Napier's and was involved with improving marine engines. John was educated at Glasgow High School and then for a while at the Department of Civil Engineering at Glasgow University, where he showed great aptitude for mathematics and drawing. He spent five years as an apprentice under Robert Napier followed by two short periods of activity as a pattern-maker first and then a draughtsman in England. He returned to Scotland in 1849 to become Chief Draughtsman to Napier, but in 1852 he left to become a partner with the Glasgow general engineering company of Randolph Elliott \& Co. Shortly after his induction (at the age of 28), the engineering firm was renamed Randolph Elder \& Co.; in 1868, when the partnership expired, it became known as John Elder \& Co. From the outset Elder, with his partner, Charles Randolph, approached mechanical (especially heat) engineering in a rigorous manner. Their knowledge and understanding of entropy ensured that engine design was not a hit-and-miss affair, but one governed by recognition of the importance of the new kinetic theory of heat and with it a proper understanding of thermodynamic principles, and by systematic development. In this Elder was joined by W.J.M. Rankine, Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University, who helped him develop the compound marine engine. Elder and Randolph built up a series of patents, which guaranteed their company's commercial success and enabled them for a while to be the sole suppliers of compound steam reciprocating machinery. Their first such engine at sea was fitted in 1854 on the SS Brandon for the Limerick Steamship Company; the ship showed an improved performance by using a third less coal, which he was able to reduce still further on later designs.Elder developed steam jacketing and recognized that, with higher pressures, triple-expansion types would be even more economical. In 1862 he patented a design of quadruple-expansion engine with reheat between cylinders and advocated the importance of balancing reciprocating parts. The effect of his improvements was to greatly reduce fuel consumption so that long sea voyages became an economic reality.His yard soon reached dimensions then unequalled on the Clyde where he employed over 4,000 workers; Elder also was always interested in the social welfare of his labour force. In 1860 the engine shops were moved to the Govan Old Shipyard, and again in 1864 to the Fairfield Shipyard, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west on the south bank of the Clyde. At Fairfield, shipbuilding was commenced, and with the patents for compounding secure, much business was placed for many years by shipowners serving long-distance trades such as South America; the Pacific Steam Navigation Company took up his ideas for their ships. In later years the yard became known as the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd, but it remains today as one of Britain's most efficient shipyards and is known now as Kvaerner Govan Ltd.In 1869, at the age of only 45, John Elder was unanimously elected President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland; however, before taking office and giving his eagerly awaited presidential address, he died in London from liver disease. A large multitude attended his funeral and all the engineering shops were silent as his body, which had been brought back from London to Glasgow, was carried to its resting place. In 1857 Elder had married Isabella Ure, and on his death he left her a considerable fortune, which she used generously for Govan, for Glasgow and especially the University. In 1883 she endowed the world's first Chair of Naval Architecture at the University of Glasgow, an act which was reciprocated in 1901 when the University awarded her an LLD on the occasion of its 450th anniversary.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland 1869.Further ReadingObituary, 1869, Engineer 28.1889, The Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith Elder \& Co. W.J.Macquorn Rankine, 1871, "Sketch of the life of John Elder" Transactions of theInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.Maclehose, 1886, Memoirs and Portraits of a Hundred Glasgow Men.The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Works, 1909, London: Offices of Engineering.P.M.Walker, 1984, Song of the Clyde, A History of Clyde Shipbuilding, Cambridge: PSL.R.L.Hills, 1989, Power from Steam. A History of the Stationary Steam Engine, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (covers Elder's contribution to the development of steam engines).RLH / FMW -
87 Fairbairn, William
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 19 February 1789 Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotlandd. 18 August 1874 Farnham, Surrey, England[br]Scottish engineer and shipbuilder, pioneer in the use of iron in structures.[br]Born in modest circumstances, Fairbairn nevertheless enjoyed a broad and liberal education until around the age of 14. Thereafter he served an apprenticeship as a millwright in a Northumberland colliery. This seven-year period marked him out as a man of determination and intellectual ability; he planned his life around the practical work of pit-machinery maintenance and devoted his limited free time to the study of mathematics, science and history as well as "Church, Milton and Recreation". Like many before and countless thousands after, he worked in London for some difficult and profitless years, and then moved to Manchester, the city he was to regard as home for the rest of his life. In 1816 he was married. Along with a workmate, James Lillie, he set up a general engineering business, which steadily enlarged and ultimately involved both shipbuilding and boiler-making. The partnership was dissolved in 1832 and Fairbairn continued on his own. Consultancy work commissioned by the Forth and Clyde Canal led to the construction of iron steamships by Fairbairn for the canal; one of these, the PS Manchester was lost in the Irish Sea (through the little-understood phenomenon of compass deviation) on her delivery voyage from Manchester to the Clyde. This brought Fairbairn to the forefront of research in this field and confirmed him as a shipbuilder in the novel construction of iron vessels. In 1835 he operated the Millwall Shipyard on the Isle of Dogs on the Thames; this is regarded as one of the first two shipyards dedicated to iron production from the outset (the other being Tod and MacGregor of Glasgow). Losses at the London yard forced Fairbairn to sell off, and the yard passed into the hands of John Scott Russell, who built the I.K. Brunel -designed Great Eastern on the site. However, his business in Manchester went from strength to strength: he produced an improved Cornish boiler with two firetubes, known as the Lancashire boiler; he invented a riveting machine; and designed the beautiful swan-necked box-structured crane that is known as the Fairbairn crane to this day.Throughout his life he advocated the widest use of iron; he served on the Admiralty Committee of 1861 investigating the use of this material in the Royal Navy. In his later years he travelled widely in Europe as an engineering consultant and published many papers on engineering. His contribution to worldwide engineering was recognized during his lifetime by the conferment of a baronetcy by Queen Victoria.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsCreated Baronet 1869. FRS 1850. Elected to the Academy of Science of France 1852. President, Institution of Mechnical Engineers 1854. Royal Society Gold Medal 1860. President, British Association 1861.BibliographyFairbairn wrote many papers on a wide range of engineering subjects from water-wheels to iron metallurgy and from railway brakes to the strength of iron ships. In 1856 he contributed the article on iron to the 8th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.Further ReadingW.Pole (ed.), 1877, The Life of Sir William Fairbairn Bart, London: Longmans Green; reprinted 1970, David and Charles Reprints (written in part by Fairbairn, but completed and edited by Pole).FMW -
88 Fokker, Anthony Herman Gerard
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 6 April 1890 Kediri, Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia)d. 23 December 1939 New York, USA[br]Dutch designer of German fighter aircraft during the First World War and of many successful airliners during the 1920s and 1930s.[br]Anthony Fokker was born in Java, where his Dutch father had a coffee plantation. The family returned to the Netherlands and, after schooling, young Anthony went to Germany to study aeronautics. With the aid of a friend he built his first aeroplane, the Spin, in 1910: this was a monoplane capable of short hops. By 1911 Fokker had improved the Spin and gained a pilot's licence. In 1912 he set up a company called Fokker Aeroplanbau at Johannistal, outside Berlin, and a series of monoplanes followed.When war broke out in 1914 Fokker offered his designs to both sides, and the Germans accepted them. His E I monoplane of 1915 caused a sensation with its manoeuvrability and forward-firing machine gun. Fokker and his collaborators improved on the French deflector system introduced by Raymond Saulnier by fitting an interrupter gear which synchronized the machine gun to fire between the blades of the rotating propeller. The Fokker Dr I triplane and D VII biplane were also outstanding German fighters of the First World War. Fokker's designs were often the work of an employee who received little credit: nevertheless, Fokker was a gifted pilot and a great organizer. After the war, Fokker moved back to the Netherlands and set up the Fokker Aircraft Works in Amsterdam. In 1922, however, he emigrated to the USA and established the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation in New Jersey. His first significant success there came the following year when one of his T-2 monoplanes became the first aircraft to fly non-stop across the USA, from New York to San Diego. He developed a series of civil aircraft using the well-proven method of construction he used for his fighters: fuselages made from steel tubes and thick, robust wooden wings. Of these, probably the most famous was the F VII/3m, a high-wing monoplane with three engines and capable of carrying about ten passengers. From 1925 the F VII/3m airliner was used worldwide and made many record-breaking flights, such as Lieutenant-Commander Richard Byrd's first flight over the North Pole in 1926 and Charles Kingsford-Smith's first transpacific flight in 1928. By this time Fokker had lost interest in military aircraft and had begun to see flight as a means of speeding up global communications and bringing people together. His last years were spent in realizing this dream, and this was reflected in his concentration on the design and production of passenger aircraft.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsRoyal Netherlands Aeronautical Society Gold Medal 1932.Bibliography1931, The Flying Dutchman: The Life of Anthony Fokker, London: Routledge \& Sons (an interesting, if rather biased, autobiography).Further ReadingA.R.Weyl, 1965, Fokker: The Creative Years, London; reprinted 1988 (a very detailed account of Fokker's early work).Thijs Postma, 1979, Fokker: Aircraft Builders to the World, Holland; 1980, English edn, London (a well-illustrated history of Fokker and the company).Henri Hegener, 1961, Fokker: The Man and His Aircraft, Letchworth, Herts.JDS / CMBiographical history of technology > Fokker, Anthony Herman Gerard
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89 Moulton, Alexander
[br]b. 9 April 1920 Stratford-on-Avon[br]English inventor of vehicle suspension systems and the Moulton bicycle.[br]He spent his childhood at The Hall in Bradfordon-Avon. He was educated at Marlborough College, and in 1937 was apprenticed to the Sentinel Steam Wagon Company of Shrewsbury. About that same time he went to King's College, Cambridge, where he took the Mechanical Sciences Tripos. It was then wartime, and he did research on aero-engines at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, where he became Personal Assistant to Sir Roy Fedden. He left Bristol's in 1945 to join his family firm, Spencer \& Moulton, of which he eventually became Technical Director and built up the Research Department. In 1948 he invented his first suspension unit, the "Flexitor", in which an inner shaft and an outer shell were separated by an annular rubber body which was bonded to both.In 1848 his great-grandfather had founded the family firm in an old woollen mill, to manufacture vulcanized rubber products under Charles Goodyear's patent. The firm remained a family business with Spencer's, consultants in railway engineering, until 1956 when it was sold to the Avon Rubber Company. He then formed Moulton Developments to continue his work on vehicle suspensions in the stables attached to The Hall. Sponsored by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Dunlop Rubber Company, he invented a rubber cone spring in 1951 which was later used in the BMC Mini (see Issigonis, Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine): by 1994 over 4 million Minis had been fitted with these springs, made by Dunlop. In 1954 he patented the Hydrolastic suspension system, in which all four wheels were independently sprung with combined rubber springs and damper assembly, the weight being supported by fluid under pressure, and the wheels on each side being interconnected, front to rear. In 1962 he formed Moulton Bicycles Ltd, having designed an improved bicycle system for adult use. The conventional bicycle frame was replaced by a flat-sided oval steel tube F-frame on a novel rubber front and rear suspension, with the wheel size reduced to 41 cm (16 in.) with high-pressure tyres. Raleigh Industries Ltd having refused his offer to produce the Moulton Bicycle under licence, he set up his own factory on his estate, producing 25,000 bicycles between 1963 and 1966. In 1967 he sold out to Raleigh and set up as Bicycle Consultants Ltd while continuing the suspension development of Moulton Developments Ltd. In the 1970s the combined firms employed some forty staff, nearly 50 per cent of whom were graduates.He won the Queen's Award for Industry in 1967 for technical innovation in Hydrolastic car suspension and the Moulton Bicycle. Since that time he has continued his innovative work on suspensions and the bicycle. In 1983 he introduced the AM bicycle series of very sophisticated space-frame design with suspension and 43 cm (17 in.) wheels; this machine holds the world speed record fully formed at 82 km/h (51 mph). The current Rover 100 and MGF use his Hydragas interconnected suspension. By 1994 over 7 million cars had been fitted with Moulton suspensions. He has won many design awards and prizes, and has been awarded three honorary doctorates of engineering. He is active in engineering and design education.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsQueen's Award for Industry 1967; CBE; RDI. Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.Further ReadingP.R.Whitfield, 1975, Creativity in Industry, London: Penguin Books.IMcN -
90 Smith, Sir Francis Pettit
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 9 February 1808 Copperhurst Farm, near Hythe, Kent, Englandd. 12 February 1874 South Kensington, London, England[br]English inventor of the screw propeller.[br]Smith was the only son of Charles Smith, Postmaster at Hythe, and his wife Sarah (née Pettit). After education at a private school in Ashford, Kent, he took to farming, first on Romney Marsh, then at Hendon, Middlesex. As a boy, he showed much skill in the construction of model boats, especially in devising their means of propulsion. He maintained this interest into adult life and in 1835 he made a model propelled by a screw driven by a spring. This worked so well that he became convinced that the screw propeller offered a better method of propulsion than the paddle wheels that were then in general use. This notion so fired his enthusiasm that he virtually gave up farming to devote himself to perfecting his invention. The following year he produced a better model, which he successfully demonstrated to friends on his farm at Hendon and afterwards to the public at the Adelaide Gallery in London. On 31 May 1836 Smith was granted a patent for the propulsion of vessels by means of a screw.The idea of screw propulsion was not new, however, for it had been mooted as early as the seventeenth century and since then several proposals had been advanced, but without successful practical application. Indeed, simultaneously but quite independently of Smith, the Swedish engineer John Ericsson had invented the ship's propeller and obtained a patent on 13 July 1836, just weeks after Smith. But Smith was completely unaware of this and pursued his own device in the belief that he was the sole inventor.With some financial and technical backing, Smith was able to construct a 10 ton boat driven by a screw and powered by a steam engine of about 6 hp (4.5 kW). After showing it off to the public, Smith tried it out at sea, from Ramsgate round to Dover and Hythe, returning in stormy weather. The screw performed well in both calm and rough water. The engineering world seemed opposed to the new method of propulsion, but the Admiralty gave cautious encouragement in 1839 by ordering that the 237 ton Archimedes be equipped with a screw. It showed itself superior to the Vulcan, one of the fastest paddle-driven ships in the Navy. The ship was put through its paces in several ports, including Bristol, where Isambard Kingdom Brunel was constructing his Great Britain, the first large iron ocean-going vessel. Brunel was so impressed that he adapted his ship for screw propulsion.Meanwhile, in spite of favourable reports, the Admiralty were dragging their feet and ordered further trials, fitting Smith's four-bladed propeller to the Rattler, then under construction and completed in 1844. The trials were a complete success and propelled their lordships of the Admiralty to a decision to equip twenty ships with screw propulsion, under Smith's supervision.At last the superiority of screw propulsion was generally accepted and virtually universally adopted. Yet Smith gained little financial reward for his invention and in 1850 he retired to Guernsey to resume his farming life. In 1860 financial pressures compelled him to accept the position of Curator of Patent Models at the Patent Museum in South Kensington, London, a post he held until his death. Belated recognition by the Government, then headed by Lord Palmerston, came in 1855 with the grant of an annual pension of £200. Two years later Smith received unofficial recognition when he was presented with a national testimonial, consisting of a service of plate and nearly £3,000 in cash subscribed largely by the shipbuilding and engineering community. Finally, in 1871 Smith was honoured with a knighthood.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1871.Further ReadingObituary, 1874, Illustrated London News (7 February).1856, On the Invention and Progress of the Screw Propeller, London (provides biographical details).Smith and his invention are referred to in papers in Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 14 (1934): 9; 19 (1939): 145–8, 155–7, 161–4, 237–9.LRDBiographical history of technology > Smith, Sir Francis Pettit
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91 Warren, Henry Ellis
SUBJECT AREA: Horology[br]b. 21 May 1872 Boston, Massachusetts, USAd. 21 September 1957 Ashland, Massachusetts, USA[br]American electrical engineer who invented the mains electric synchronous clock.[br]Warren studied electrical engineering at the Boston Institute of Technology (later to become the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and graduated in 1894. In 1912 he formed the Warren Electric Clock Company to make a battery-powered clock that he had patented a few years earlier. The name was changed to the Warren Telechron (time at a distance) Company after he had started to produce synchronous clocks.In 1840 Charles Wheatstone had produced an electric master clock that produced an alternating current with a frequency of one cycle per second and which was used to drive slave dials. This system was not successful, but when Ferranti introduced the first alternating current power generator at Deptford in 1895 Hope-Jones saw in it a means of distributing time. This did not materialize immediately because the power generators did not control the frequency of the current with sufficient accuracy, and a reliable motor whose speed was related to this frequency was not available. In 1916 Warren solved both problems: he produced a reliable self-starting synchronous electric motor and he also made a master clock which could be used at the power station to control accurately the frequency of the supply. Initially the power-generating companies were reluctant to support the synchronous clock because it imposed a liability to control the frequency of the supply and the gain was likely to be small because it was very frugal in its use of power. However, with the advent of the grid system, when several generators were connected together, it became imperative to control the frequency; it was realized that although the power consumption of individual clocks was small, collectively it could be significant as they ran continuously. By the end of the 1930s more than half the clocks sold in the USA were of the synchronous type. The Warren synchronous clock was introduced into Great Britain in 1927, following the setting up of a grid system by the Electricity Commission.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFranklin Institute John Price Wetherill Medal. American Institute of Electrical Engineers Lamme Medal.BibliographyThe patents for the synchronous motor are US patent nos. 1,283,432, 1,283,433 and 1,283,435, and those for the master clock are 1,283,431, 1,409,502 and 1,502,493 of 29 October 1918 onwards.1919, "Utilising the time characteristics of alternating current", Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers 38:767–81 (Warren's first description of his system).Further ReadingJ.M.Anderson, 1991, "Henry Ellis Warren and his master clocks", National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Bulletin 33:375–95 (provides biographical and technical details).DV -
92 plough
plau
1. сущ.
1) а) плуг
2) приборы и механизмы, использующие принцип действия плуга;
напоминающие его по форме а) полигр. обрезные тиски( переплетчика) б) снегоочиститель
3) а) шотл. упряжка( из тягловых лошадей, волов, буйволов) б) диал. вольер с перевозимыми в нем животными
4) вспаханное поле, пашня Syn: ploughed land
5) сл. провал( на экзамене)
6) (the Plough) астр. Большая Медведица Syn: Great Bear, Charles's Wain, Big Dipper, Ursa Major, Arthur's Wain
7) электр. токосниматель
8) олений рог ∙ to put one's hand to the plough ≈ взяться за работу
2. гл.;
тж. plou
1) а) вспахивать, пахать б) уст. работать плугом
2) поддаваться вспашке the land ploughs hard after the drought ≈ после засухи землю трудно пахать
3) а) прокладывать борозду, бороздить б) перен. наносить глубокую рану, глубокий порез в) перен. испещрять, усеивать Her face was rough, and ploughed with wrinkles. ≈ Ее лицо было грубым, изборожденным морщинами.
4) пробивать, прокладывать с трудом (тж. plough through) to plough one's way ≈ прокладывать себе путь
5) рассекать волны, водную поверхность( о кораблях, водоплавающих животных и т.д.)
6) сл. провалиться( на экзамене) Syn: fail
2. ∙ plough back plough in plough into plough out plough through plough under plough up plough a lonely furrow plough the sand plough the sands плуг - land under the * пашня, пахотная земля - to drive the * вести плуг упряжка с плугом сошник струг (для земляных работ) снегоочиститель (электротехника) токоприемник, токосниматель пашня - 100 acres of * сто акров пашни сельское хозяйство( the P.) (астрономия) Большая Медведица обрезные тиски (переплетчика) (техническое) пазник;
шпунтгебель > to follow the * заниматься сельским хозяйством > to put /to set/ one's hand to the * взяться за дело /работу/ пахать, вспахивать - to * in /into/ запахивать, пропахивать - to * up распахивать, производить подъем пласта - to * up the earth взрыхлять землю поддаваться вспашке - this land *s hard эту землю трудно пахать прокладывать борозду оставлять( глубокие) следы - jealousy and pride *ed furrows across her brow ревность и гордость избороздили ее чело( морщинами) - a face *ed with wrinkles изборожденное морщинами лицо рассекать воду, волны идти, плыть, рассекая волны прогребать ( воду - плавание) продвигаться, пробираться с трудом;
пролагать, прокладывать путь (тж. to * one's way) - the river *ed a course for itself down the valley река проложила себе путь по долине - he came *ing through the snow он с трудом пробирался по снегу - a bullet *ed through his thigh пуля прострелила ему /прошла через его/ бедро - as negotiations * on по мере того как переговоры с трудом продвигаются вперед врезаться - the car *ed into a fence машина врезалась в изгородь корпеть, "потеть";
осиливать - to * through a book с трудом осилить книгу > to * the sands /the air/ заниматься бесполезным делом, тратить силы впустую;
толочь воду в ступе > to * a lonely furrow действовать в одиночку( студенческое) (жаргон) провал на экзамене - to take a * провалиться на экзамене (студенческое) (жаргон) провалить на экзамене (студенческое) (жаргон) провалиться на экзамене ~ поддаваться вспашке;
the land ploughs hard after the drought после засухи землю трудно пахать plough (the P.) астр. Большая Медведица ~ бороздить ~ вспаханное поле, пашня ~ пахать ~ плуг ~ поддаваться вспашке;
the land ploughs hard after the drought после засухи землю трудно пахать ~ пробивать, прокладывать с трудом (тж. plough through) ;
to plough one's way прокладывать себе путь ~ жарг. провал (на экзамене) ~ жарг. провалиться (на экзамене) ~ рассекать (волны) ~ снегоочиститель ~ эл. токосниматель;
to put one's hand to the plough взяться за работу plow: plow амер. = plough ~ up распахивать;
to plough a lonely furrow = одиноко следовать своим собственным путем ~ пробивать, прокладывать с трудом (тж. plough through) ;
to plough one's way прокладывать себе путь to ~ the sand(s) = переливать из пустого в порожнее;
зря трудиться;
заниматься бесполезным делом ~ through осилить (книгу) ~ through продвигаться с трудом ~ under выкорчевывать ~ under запахивать ~ under зарыть ~ up взрывать( землю) ~ up распахивать;
to plough a lonely furrow = одиноко следовать своим собственным путем ~ эл. токосниматель;
to put one's hand to the plough взяться за работу -
93 impression
- ʃən1) (the idea or effect produced in someone's mind by a person, experience etc: The film made a great impression on me.) impresión2) (a vague idea: I have the impression that he's not pleased.) impresión3) (the mark left by an object on another object: The dog left an impression of its paws in the wet cement.) huella, marca4) (a single printing of a book etc.) edición, tiradaimpression n impresióntr[ɪm'preʃən]1 (gen) impresión nombre femenino■ what's your impression of the new teacher? ¿qué te parece el nuevo profesor?■ he had the impression that the boss didn't like him tenía la sensación de que no le gustaba al jefe2 (imitation) imitación nombre femenino3 (imprint, mark) marca, señal nombre femenino, impresión nombre femenino; (in wax, plaster) molde nombre masculino; (of foot etc) huella\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLto be under the impression that... tener la impresión de que...to create a good/bad impression causar buena/mala impresiónto make an impression on somebody impresionar a alguienimpression [ɪm'prɛʃən] n1) imprint: marca f, huella f, molde m (de los dientes)2) effect: impresión f, efecto m, impacto m3) printing: impresión f4) notion: impresión f, noción fn.• efecto s.m.• estampa s.f.• estampado s.m.• huella s.f.• impresión s.f.• impronta s.f.ɪm'preʃən1)a) (idea, image) impresión fit's my impression that she doesn't want to go — tengo or me da la impresión de que no quiere ir
I get the impression that he wants me to leave — tengo or me da la impresión de que quiere que me vaya
to give somebody the impression that... — darle* a alguien la impresión de que...
to be under the impression (that)... — creer* or pensar* que..., tener* la impresión de que...
b) ( effect) impresión fto make o create a good/bad impression on somebody — causarle or producirle* a alguien una buena/mala impresión
2)a) ( imprint) impresión f, huella fb) ( Publ) impresión f3) ( impersonation) imitación f[ɪm'preʃǝn]N1) (=effect) impresión fto make a good/bad impression (on sb) — causar buena/mala impresión (a algn)
all our arguments seemed to make no impression on him — nuestros argumentos no parecieron tener efecto alguno en él
we had been digging for an hour but weren't making any impression — llevábamos una hora cavando pero sin ningún éxito
2) (=vague idea, illusion) impresión fto be under or have the impression that... — tener la impresión de que...
3) (=mark) impresión f ; (fig) marca f, huella f5) (Theat) imitación f* * *[ɪm'preʃən]1)a) (idea, image) impresión fit's my impression that she doesn't want to go — tengo or me da la impresión de que no quiere ir
I get the impression that he wants me to leave — tengo or me da la impresión de que quiere que me vaya
to give somebody the impression that... — darle* a alguien la impresión de que...
to be under the impression (that)... — creer* or pensar* que..., tener* la impresión de que...
b) ( effect) impresión fto make o create a good/bad impression on somebody — causarle or producirle* a alguien una buena/mala impresión
2)a) ( imprint) impresión f, huella fb) ( Publ) impresión f3) ( impersonation) imitación f -
94 Linen
Cloth made of flax. The fabrication of linen in England was not carried on to any great extent before the middle of the 16th century. It was made here in the time of the Anglo-Saxons. Linen was worn as garments for wear next to the skin. In the 14th and 15th centuries much linen was imported from abroad, cloth of Lake, cloth of Rennes, cloth of Ypres and of Gaunt, being specially mentioned. The linen most commonly noticed during the Middle Ages for wear was known as " Holland," the cloth woven in that country, and the name has descended to the present day. In the reign of Charles II an act was passed for the encouragement of the manufacturing of all kinds of linen cloth and tapestry made from hemp or flax. Linen fabrics are manufactured in numerous qualities, bleached, dyed or in natural colour. The varieties of the plain weave fabrics are: - Cambrics, handkerchiefs, lawns, pillow cloth sheetings, hollands, canvas, duck dress linens, brown linens, aeroplane linens, interlinings, sailcloth, scrims, crash, roughs and dowlas. These fabrics differ considerably in setting and yarns. Fancy weave cloths comprise diapers, damasks, honeycombs, huckabacks, drills, towels, etc. All the above fabrics are imitated in cotton and many are cheapened by using cotton warp and flax weft. ———————— One of the oldest known fabrics is that made from flax yarn and called linen. The Egyptians thought linen was an emblem of purity, and used it as a wrapping for their dead. By the term linen is generally meant a medium weight cloth with plain weave, and one that takes the same standing in the linen trade as calico does in the cotton trade. -
95 Bailey, Sir Donald Coleman
SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering[br]b. 15 September 1901 Rotherham, Yorkshire, Englandd. 5 May 1985 Bournemouth, Dorset, England[br]English engineer, designer of the Bailey bridge.[br]Bailey was educated at the Leys School, Cambridge, before going to Sheffield University where he studied for a degree in engineering. He joined the Civil Service in 1928 and was posted to the staff of the Experimental Bridging Establishment of the Ministry of Supply at Christchurch, Hampshire. There he continued his boyhood hobby of making model bridges of wood and string. He evolved a design for a prefabricated metal bridge assembled from welded panels linked by pinned joints; this became known as the Bailey bridge. Its design was accepted by the War Office in 1941 and from then on it was used throughout the subsequent conflict of the Second World War. It was a great improvement on its predecessor, the Inglis bridge, designed by a Cambridge University professor of engineering, Charles Inglis, with tubular members that were 10 or 12 ft (3.66 m) long; this bridge was notoriously difficult to construct, particularly in adverse weather conditions, whereas the Bailey bridge's panels and joints were far more manageable and easy to assemble. The simple and standardized component parts of the Bailey bridge made it highly adaptable: it could be strengthened by increasing the number of truss girders, and wide rivers could be crossed by a series of Bailey bridges connected by pontoons. Field Marshal Montgomery is recorded as saying that without the Bailey bridge we should not have won the war'.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1946.Further ReadingObituary, 1985, The Guardian 6 May.IMcNBiographical history of technology > Bailey, Sir Donald Coleman
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96 Clement (Clemmet), Joseph
SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering[br]bapt. 13 June 1779 Great Asby, Westmoreland, Englandd. 28 February 1844 London, England[br]English machine tool builder and inventor.[br]Although known as Clement in his professional life, his baptism at Asby and his death were registered under the name of Joseph Clemmet. He worked as a slater until the age of 23, but his interest in mechanics led him to spend much of his spare time in the local blacksmith's shop. By studying books on mechanics borrowed from his cousin, a watchmaker, he taught himself and with the aid of the village blacksmith made his own lathe. By 1805 he was able to give up the slating trade and find employment as a mechanic in a small factory at Kirkby Stephen. From there he moved to Carlisle for two years, and then to Glasgow where, while working as a turner, he took lessons in drawing; he had a natural talent and soon became an expert draughtsman. From about 1809 he was employed by Leys, Mason \& Co. of Aberdeen designing and making power looms. For this work he built a screw-cutting lathe and continued his self-education. At the end of 1813, having saved about £100, he made his way to London, where he soon found employment as a mechanic and draughtsman. Within a few months he was engaged by Joseph Bramah, and after a trial period a formal agreement dated 1 April 1814 was made by which Clement was to be Chief Draughtsman and Superintendent of Bramah's Pimlico works for five years. However, Bramah died in December 1814 and after his sons took over the business it was agreed that Clement should leave before the expiry of the five-year period. He soon found employment as Chief Draughtsman with Henry Maudslay \& Co. By 1817 Clement had saved about £500, which enabled him to establish his own business at Prospect Place, Newington Butts, as a mechanical draughtsman and manufacturer of high-class machinery. For this purpose he built lathes for his own use and invented various improvements in their detailed design. In 1827 he designed and built a facing lathe which incorporated an ingenious system of infinitely variable belt gearing. He had also built his own planing machine by 1820 and another, much larger one in 1825. In 1828 Clement began making fluted taps and dies and standardized the screw threads, thus anticipating on a small scale the national standards later established by Sir Joseph Whitworth. Because of his reputation for first-class workmanship, Clement was in the 1820s engaged by Charles Babbage to carry out the construction of his first Difference Engine.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsSociety of Arts Gold Medal 1818 (for straightline mechanism), 1827 (for facing lathe); Silver Medal 1828 (for lathe-driving device).BibliographyExamples of Clement's draughtsmanship can be found in the Transactions of the Society of Arts 33 (1817), 36 (1818), 43 (1925), 46 (1828) and 48 (1829).Further ReadingS.Smiles, 1863, Industrial Biography, London, reprinted 1967, Newton Abbot (virtually the only source of biographical information on Clement).L.T.C.Rolt, 1965, Tools for the Job, London (repub. 1986); W.Steeds, 1969, A History of Machine Tools 1700–1910, Oxford (both contain descriptions of his machine tools).RTSBiographical history of technology > Clement (Clemmet), Joseph
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97 Doane, Thomas
SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Railways and locomotives[br]b. 20 September 1821 Orleans, Massachusetts, USAd. 22 October 1897 West Townsend, Massachusetts, USA[br]American mechanical engineer.[br]The son of a lawyer, he entered an academy in Cape Cod and, at the age of 19, the English Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, for five terms. He was then in the employ of Samuel L. Fenton of Charlestown, Massachusetts. He served a three-year apprenticeship, then went to the Windsor White River Division of the Vermont Central Railroad. He was Resident Engineer of the Cheshire Railroad at Walpote, New Hampshire, from 1847 to 1849, and then worked in independent practice as a civil engineer and surveyor until his death. He was involved with nearly all the railroads running out of Boston, especially the Boston \& Maine. In April 1863 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel, which was already being built. He introduced new engineering methods, relocated the line of the tunnel and achieved great accuracy in the meeting of the borings. He was largely responsible for the development in the USA of the advanced system of tunnelling with machinery and explosives, and pioneered the use of compressed air in the USA. In 1869 he was Chief Engineer of the Burlington \& Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, laying down some 240 miles (386 km) of track in four years. During this period he became interested in the building of a Congregational College at Crete, Nebraska, for which he gave the land and which was named after him. In 1873 he returned to Charlestown and was again appointed Chief Engineer of the Hoosac Tunnel. At the final opening of the tunnel on 9 February 1875 he drove the first engine through. He remained in charge of construction for a further two years.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, School of Civil Engineers.Further ReadingDuncan Malone (ed.), 1932–3, Dictionary of American Biography, New York: Charles Scribner.IMcN -
98 Heaviside, Oliver
[br]b. 18 May 1850 London, Englandd. 2 February 1925 Torquay, Devon, England[br]English physicist who correctly predicted the existence of the ionosphere and its ability to reflect radio waves.[br]Brought up in poor, almost Dickensian, circumstances, at the age of 13 years Heaviside, a nephew by marriage of Sir Charles Wheatstone, went to Camden House Grammar School. There he won a medal for science, but he was forced to leave because his parents could not afford the fees. After a year of private study, he began his working life in Newcastle in 1870 as a telegraph operator for an Anglo-Dutch cable company, but he had to give up after only four years because of increasing deafness. He therefore proceeded to spend his time studying theoretical aspects of electrical transmission and communication, and moved to Devon with his parents in 1889. Because the operation of many electrical circuits involves transient phenomena, he found it necessary to develop what he called operational calculus (which was essentially a form of the Laplace transform calculus) in order to determine the response to sudden voltage and current changes. In 1893 he suggested that the distortion that occurred on long-distance telephone lines could be reduced by adding loading coils at regular intervals, thus creating a matched-transmission line. Between 1893 and 1912 he produced a series of writings on electromagnetic theory, in one of which, anticipating a conclusion of Einstein's special theory of relativity, he put forward the idea that the mass of an electric charge increases with its velocity. When it was found that despite the curvature of the earth it was possible to communicate over very great distances using radio signals in the so-called "short" wavebands, Heaviside suggested the presence of a conducting layer in the ionosphere that reflected the waves back to earth. Since a similar suggestion had been made almost at the same time by Arthur Kennelly of Harvard, this layer became known as the Kennelly-Heaviside layer.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1891. Institution of Electrical Engineers Faraday Medal 1924. Honorary PhD Gottingen. Honorary Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.Bibliography1872. "A method for comparing electro-motive forces", English Mechanic (July).1873. Philosophical Magazine (February) (a paper on the use of the Wheatstone Bridge). 1889, Electromagnetic Waves.1892, Electrical Papers.1893–1912, Electromagnetic Theory.Further ReadingI.Catt (ed.), 1987, Oliver Heaviside, The Man, St Albans: CAM Publishing.P.J.Nahin, 1988, Oliver Heaviside, Sage in Solitude: The Life and Works of an Electrical Genius of the Victorian Age, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York.J.B.Hunt, The Maxwellians, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.See also: Appleton, Sir Edward VictorKF -
99 Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel
SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace[br]b. 26 August 1740 Vidalon-lès-Annonay, Franced. 26 June 1810 Balaruc-les-Bains, France[br]French ballooning pioneer who, with his brother Jacques-Etienne (b. 6 January 1745 Vidalon-lès-Annonay, France; d. 2 August 1799, Serriers, France), built the first balloon to carry passengers on a "free" flight.[br]Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier were papermakers of Annonay, near Lyon. Joseph made the first experiments' after studying smoke rising from a fire and assuming that the smoke contained a gas which was lighter than air: of course, this lighter-than-air gas was just hot air. Using fine silk he made a small balloon with an aperture in its base, then, by burning paper beneath this aperture, he filled the balloon with hot air and it rose to the ceiling. Jacques-Etienne joined his brother in further experiments and they progressed to larger hot-air balloons until, by October 1783, they had constructed one large enough to lift two men on tethered ascents. In the same month Joseph-Michel delivered a paper at the University of Lyon on his experiments for a propulsive system by releasing gas through an opening in the side of a balloon; unfortunately, there was not enough pressurefor an effective jet. Then, on 21 November 1783, the scientist Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes ascended on a "free" flight in a Montgolfier balloon. They departed from the grounds of a château in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris on what was to be the world's first aerial journey, covering 9 km (5/2 miles) in 25 minutes.Ballooning became a popular spectacle with initial rivalry between the hot-air Montgolfières and the hydrogen-filled Charlières of J.A.C. Charles. Interest in hot-air balloons subsided, but was revived in the 1960s by an American, Paul E. Yost. His propane-gas burner to provide hot-air was a great advance on the straw-burning fire-basket of the Montgolfiers.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsLégion d'honneur.Further ReadingC.C.Gillispie, 1983, The Montgolfier Brothers and the Invention of Aviation 1783–1784, Princeton, NJ (one of the publications to commemorate the bicentenary of the Montgolfiers).L.T.C.Rolt, 1966, The Aeronauts, London (describes the history of balloons). C.Dollfus, 1961, Balloons, London.JDSBiographical history of technology > Montgolfier, Joseph-Michel
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100 Scheutz, George
SUBJECT AREA: Electronics and information technology[br]b. 23 September 1785 Jonkoping, Swedend. 27 May 1873 Stockholm, Sweden[br]Swedish lawyer, journalist and self-taught engineer who, with his son Edvard Raphael Scheutz (b. 13 September 1821 Stockholm, Sweden; d. 28 January 1881 Stockholm, Sweden) constructed a version of the Babbage Difference Engine.[br]After early education at the Jonkoping elementary school and the Weixo Gymnasium, George Scheutz entered the University of Lund, gaining a degree in law in 1805. Following five years' legal work, he moved to Stockholm in 1811 to work at the Supreme Court and, in 1814, as a military auditor. In 1816, he resigned, bought a printing business and became editor of a succession of industrial and technical journals, during which time he made inventions relating to the press. It was in 1830 that he learned from the Edinburgh Review of Babbage's ideas for a difference engine and started to make one from wood, pasteboard and wire. In 1837 his 15-yearold student son, Edvard Raphael Scheutz, offered to make it in metal, and by 1840 they had a working machine with two five-digit registers, which they increased the following year and then added a printer. Obtaining a government grant in 1851, by 1853 they had a fully working machine, now known as Swedish Difference Engine No. 1, which with an experienced operator could generate 120 lines of tables per hour and was used to calculate the logarithms of the numbers 1 to 10,000 in under eighty hours. This was exhibited in London and then at the Paris Great Exhibition, where it won the Gold Medal. It was subsequently sold to the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York, for US$5,000 and is now in a Chicago museum.In England, the British Registrar-General, wishing to produce new tables for insurance companies, and supported by the Astronomer Royal, arranged for government finance for construction of a second machine (Swedish Difference Engine No. 2). Comprising over 1,000 working parts and weighing 1,000 lb (450 kg), this machine was used to calculate over 600 tables. It is now in the Science Museum.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsMember of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Paris Exhibition Medal of Honour (jointly with Edvard) 1856. Annual pension of 1,200 marks per annum awarded by King Carl XV 1860.Bibliography1825, "Kranpunpar. George Scheutz's patent of 14 Nov 1825", Journal for Manufacturer och Hushallning 8.1855, with E.S.Scheutz, Machine à calcul qui présente les résultats en les imprimantellemême, Stockholm.Further ReadingR.C.Archibald, 1947, "P.G.Scheutz, publicist, author, scientific mechanic and Edvard Scheutz, engineer. Biography and Bibliography", MTAC 238.U.C.Merzbach, 1977, "George Scheutz and the first printing calculator", SmithsonianStudies in History and Technology 36:73.M.Lindgren, 1990, Glory and Failure (the Difference Engines of Johan Muller, Charles Babbage and George \& Edvard Scheutz), Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.KF
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