early+history

f prehistory

* * *

preistoria s.f.

1 prehistory: gli uomini della preistoria, prehistoric men

2 (estens.) early history, ancient history; beginnings (pl.): il treno a vapore è ormai preistoria, the steam train is now ancient history.

* * *

sostantivo femminile

1) prehistory

2) fig. prehistory, early history

* * *

preistoria

/preis'tɔrja/

sostantivo f.

 1 prehistory

 2 fig. prehistory, early history.

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering

[br]

[br]

[br]

Little is known of the early years of Savery's life and no trace has been found that he served in the Army, so the title "Captain" is thought to refer to some mining appointment, probably in the West of England. He may have been involved in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, for later he was well known to William of Orange. From 1705 to 1714 he was Treasurer for Sick and Wounded Seamen, and in 1714 he was appointed Surveyor of the Water Works at Hampton Court, a post he held until his death the following year. He was interested in mechanical devices; amongst his early contrivances was a clock.

He was the most prolific inventor of his day, applying for seven patents, including one in 1649, for polishing plate glass which may have been used. His idea for 1697 for propelling ships with paddle-wheels driven by a capstan was a failure, although regarded highly by the King, and was published in his first book, Navigation Improved (1698). He tried to patent a new type of floating mill in 1707, and an idea in 1710 for baking sea coal or other fuel in an oven to make it clean and pure.

His most famous invention, however, was the one patented in 1698 "for raising water by the impellent force of fire" that Savery said would drain mines or low-lying land, raise water to supply towns or houses, and provide a source of water for turning mills through a water-wheel. Basically it consisted of a receiver which was first filled with steam and then cooled to create a vacuum by having water poured over the outside. The water to be pumped was drawn into the receiver from a lower sump, and then high-pressure steam was readmitted to force the water up a pipe to a higher level. It was demonstrated to the King and the Royal Society and achieved some success, for a few were installed in the London area and a manufactory set up at Salisbury Court in London. He published a book, The Miner's Friend, about his engine in 1702, but although he made considerable improvements, due to excessive fuel consumption and materials which could not withstand the steam pressures involved, no engines were installed in mines as Savery had hoped. His patent was extended in 1699 until 1733 so that it covered the atmospheric engine of Thomas Newcomen who was forced to join Savery and his other partners to construct this much more practical engine.

[br]

graphics.

* * *

= printing press, printing company, printing firm, printing house.

Ex. The place of printing is the location where the printing press is situated, of failing this, the organization acting for it.

Ex. The first formally organized photomechanical printing company in the world was created by Paul Pretsch in 1854 in England.

Ex. These archives are so complete that they present a rare insight into the early history of a printing firm which under 4 generations of owners produced work for 127 years.

Ex. Companionship systems were operated in the Boston printing house of Hobart and Robins in the early 1850s.

* * *

(n.) = printing house, printing firm, printing company, print shop

Ex. Companionship systems were operated in the Boston printing house of Hobart and Robins in the early 1850s.

Ex. These archives are so complete that they present a rare insight into the early history of a printing firm which under 4 generations of owners produced work for 127 years.

Ex. The first formally organized photomechanical printing company in the world was created by Paul Pretsch in 1854 in England.

Ex. The only feminist print shop in North America has closed down after 23 years.

* * *

(n.) = print shop, printing firm, printing house

Ex. The only feminist print shop in North America has closed down after 23 years.

Ex. These archives are so complete that they present a rare insight into the early history of a printing firm which under 4 generations of owners produced work for 127 years.

Ex. Companionship systems were operated in the Boston printing house of Hobart and Robins in the early 1850s.

* * *

(n.) = printing company, printing press, printing firm, printing house

Ex. The first formally organized photomechanical printing company in the world was created by Paul Pretsch in 1854 in England.

Ex. The place of printing is the location where the printing press is situated, of failing this, the organization acting for it.

Ex. These archives are so complete that they present a rare insight into the early history of a printing firm which under 4 generations of owners produced work for 127 years.

Ex. Companionship systems were operated in the Boston printing house of Hobart and Robins in the early 1850s.

* * *

(v.) = be unequalled, be without peer

Ex. The early history of Irish libraries is unequalled in Europe.

Ex. As a record of the lives and intellects of their extraordinary correspondents, these letters are without peer.

* * *

= self-congratulatory

Ex. Professional literature on the early history of US librarianship has invariably been self-congratulatory, portraying the pioneer librarians as enlightened beyond expectations.

* * *

SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology

[br]

[br]

[br]

John Ridley was a preacher in his youth, and then became a mill owner before migrating to Australia with his wife and daughters in 1839. Intending to continue his business in the new colony, he took with him a "Grasshopper" overbeam steam-engine made by James Watt, together with milling equipment. Cereal acreages were insufficient for the steam power he had available, and he expanded into saw milling as well as farming 300 acres. Aware of the Adelaide trials of reaping machines, he eventually built a prototype using the same principles as those developed by Wrathall Bull. After a successful trial in 1843 Ridley began the patent procedure in England, although he never completed the project. The agricultural press was highly enthusiastic about his machine, but when trials took place in 1855 the award went to a rival. The development of the stripper enabled a spectacular increase in the cereal acreage planted over the next decade. Ridley left Australia in 1853 and returned to England. He built a number of machines to his design in Leeds; however, these failed to perform in the much damper English climate. All of the machines were exported to South America, anticipating a substantial market to be exploited by Australian manufacturers.

[br]

   In Portugal's early history, education was firmly under the control of the Catholic Church. The earliest schools were located in cathedrals and monasteries and taught a small number of individuals destined for ecclesiastical office. In 1290, a university was established by King Dinis (1261-1325) in Lisbon, but was moved to Coimbra in 1308, where it remained. Coimbra University, Portugal's oldest, and once its most prestigious, was the educational cradle of Portugal's leadership. From 1555 until the 18th century, primary and secondary education was provided by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The Catholic Church's educational monopoly was broken when the Marquis of Pombal expelled the Jesuits in 1759 and created the basis for Portugal's present system of public, secular primary and secondary schools. Pombal introduced vocational training, created hundreds of teaching posts, added departments of mathematics and natural sciences at Coimbra University, and established an education tax to pay for them.

   During the 19th century, liberals attempted to reform Portugal's educational system, which was highly elitist and emphasized rote memorization and respect for authority, hierarchy, and discipline.

   Reforms initiated in 1822, 1835, and 1844 were never actualized, however, and education remained unchanged until the early 20th century. After the overthrow of the monarchy on the Fifth of October 1910 by Republican military officers, efforts to reform Portugal's educational system were renewed. New universities were founded in Lisbon and Oporto, a Ministry of Education was established, and efforts were made to increase literacy (illiteracy rates being 80 percent) and to resecularize educational content by introducing more scientific and empirical methods into the curriculum.

   Such efforts were ended during the military dictatorship (192632), which governed Portugal until the establishment of the Estado Novo (1926-74). Although a new technical university was founded in Lisbon in 1930, little was done during the Estado Novo to modernize education or to reduce illiteracy. Only in 1964 was compulsory primary education made available for children between the ages of 6 and 12.

   The Revolution of 25 April 1974 disrupted Portugal's educational system. For a period of time after the Revolution, students, faculty, and administrators became highly politicized as socialists, communists, and other groups attempted to gain control of the schools. During the 1980s, as Portuguese politics moderated, the educational system was gradually depoliticized, greater emphasis was placed on learning, and efforts were made to improve the quality of Portuguese schools.

   Primary education in Portugal consists of four years in the primary (first) cycle and two years in the preparatory, or second, cycle. The preparatory cycle is intended for children going on to secondary education. Secondary education is roughly equivalent to junior and senior high schools in the United States. It consists of three years of a common curriculum and two years of complementary courses (10th and 11th grades). A final year (12th grade) prepares students to take university entrance examinations.

   Vocational education was introduced in 1983. It consists of a three-year course in a particular skill after the 11th grade of secondary school.

   Higher education is provided by the four older universities (Lisbon, Coimbra, Oporto, and the Technical University of Lisbon), as well as by six newer universities, one in Lisbon and the others in Minho, Aveiro, Évora, the Algarve, and the Azores. There is also a private Catholic university in Lisbon. Admission to Portuguese universities is highly competitive, and places are limited. About 10 percent of secondary students go on to university education. The average length of study at the university is five years, after which students receive their licentiate. The professoriate has four ranks (professors, associate professors, lecturers, and assistants). Professors have tenure, while the other ranks teach on contract.

   As Portugal is a unitary state, the educational system is highly centralized. All public primary and secondary schools, universities, and educational institutes are under the purview of the Ministry of Education, and all teachers and professors are included in the civil service and receive pay and pension like other civil servants. The Ministry of Education hires teachers, determines curriculum, sets policy, and pays for the building and upkeep of schools. Local communities have little say in educational matters.

SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Little is known of the early training of Edward G. Parkhurst, but at the time of Civil War (1861–5) he was employed by the Savage Arms Company of Middletown, Connecticut. In 1869 he joined the Pratt \& Whitney Company of Hartford, Connecticut, as Assistant Superintendent and later took charge of their gun department. He was the inventor of many improvements in machine tools and armaments. Among these was an automatic rod feeder for turret lathes, in which movement of a single lever enabled bar stock to be fed through the lathe spindle and gripped by a collet chuck while the machine was in motion. This was patented in August 1871 and was followed by other patents, particularly for improvements in machine guns and their accessories. Parkhurst retired from Pratt \& Whitney c. 1895 but was afterwards associated with the American Ordnance Company and the Bethlehem Steel Company. He was a founder member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1880 and served his home city of Hartford as Councillor and Alderman. In 1900 he contributed to the journal American Machinist some articles of reminiscences dealing with the early history of the American machine-tool industry and, in particular, the earliest milling machines and the origin of the turret lathe.

SUBJECT AREA: Photography, film and optics

[br]

[br]

[br]

Waterhouse spent most of his career in the Indian Army. In 1861–2 he was commissioned to photograph the tribes of central India, and over the next few years visited many parts of the subcontinent. In November 1866, after working for five months in the Great Trigonometrical Survey learning the process of photozincography (an early photomechanical process used chiefly for map making), he took charge of photographic operations at the Surveyor-General's office in Calcutta, a post he held until retiring in 1897. During this time he developed many improvements in the photomechanical methods used for reproduction in his office. He also experimented with methods of colour-sensitizing photographic materials, experimenting with eosine dye and publishing in 1875 the fact that this made silver halide salts sensitive to yellow light. He also discovered that gelatine dry plates could be made sensitive to red and infra-red illumination by treatment with alizarine blue solution.

He continued his researches upon his retirement and return to England in 1897, and made a special study of the early history of the photographic process. His work on dye sensitizing brought him the Progress Medal of the Royal Photographic Society, and the Vienna Photographic Society awarded him the Voigtländer Medal for researches in scientific photography. One invention often erroneously attributed to him is the Waterhouse stop, the use of a series of perforated plates as a means of adjusting the aperture of a photographic lens. This was described in 1858 by a John Waterhouse, being his only contribution to photography.

SUBJECT AREA: Electricity, Land transport, Railways and locomotives

[br]

[br]

[br]

Davidson, son of an Aberdeen merchant, attended Marischal College, Aberdeen, between 1819 and 1822: his studies included mathematics, mechanics and chemistry. He subsequently joined his father's grocery business, which from time to time received enquiries for yeast: to meet these, Davidson began to manufacture yeast for sale and from that start built up a successful chemical manufacturing business with the emphasis on yeast and dyes. About 1837 he started to experiment first with electric batteries and then with motors. He invented a form of electromagnetic engine in which soft iron bars arranged on the periphery of a wooden cylinder, parallel to its axis, around which the cylinder could rotate, were attracted by fixed electromagnets. These were energized in turn by current controlled by a simple commutaring device. Electric current was produced by his batteries. His activities were brought to the attention of Michael Faraday and to the scientific world in general by a letter from Professor Forbes of King's College, Aberdeen. Davidson declined to patent his inventions, believing that all should be able freely to draw advantage from them, and in order to afford an opportunity for all interested parties to inspect them an exhibition was held at 36 Union Street, Aberdeen, in October 1840 to demonstrate his "apparatus actuated by electro-magnetic power". It included: a model locomotive carriage, large enough to carry two people, that ran on a railway; a turning lathe with tools for visitors to use; and a small printing machine. In the spring of 1842 he put on a similar exhibition in Edinburgh, this time including a sawmill. Davidson sought support from railway companies for further experiments and the construction of an electromagnetic locomotive; the Edinburgh exhibition successfully attracted the attention of the proprietors of the Edinburgh 585\& Glasgow Railway (E \& GR), whose line had been opened in February 1842. Davidson built a full-size locomotive incorporating his principle, apparently at the expense of the railway company. The locomotive weighed 7 tons: each of its two axles carried a cylinder upon which were fastened three iron bars, and four electromagnets were arranged in pairs on each side of the cylinders. The motors he used were reluctance motors, the power source being zinc-iron batteries. It was named Galvani and was demonstrated on the E \& GR that autumn, when it achieved a speed of 4 mph (6.4 km/h) while hauling a load of 6 tons over a distance of 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km); it was the first electric locomotive. Nevertheless, further support from the railway company was not forthcoming, although to some railway workers the locomotive seems to have appeared promising enough: they destroyed it in Luddite reaction. Davidson staged a further exhibition in London in 1843 without result and then, the cost of battery chemicals being high, ceased further experiments of this type. He survived long enough to see the electric railway become truly practicable in the 1880s.

[br]

PJGR / GW

* * *

creation and early history

ŏrīgo, ĭnis, f. [orior], earliest beginning, commencement, source, descent, lineage, birth, origin (class.; syn. ortus).

Lit.

In gen.:

originem rerum quaerere,

Cic. Univ. 3:

origo tyranni,

id. Rep. 2, 29, 51:

principii nulla est origo: nam e principio oriuntur omnia,

id. ib. 6, 25, 27:

nullius autem rei causā remotā reperiri origo potest,

id. Univ. 2, 3:

rerum genitalis,

Lucr. 5, 176:

ab origine gentem (corripiunt morbi),

Verg. G. 3, 473:

summi boni,

Cic. Fin 2, 10, 31:

omnium virtutum,

id. ib. 4, 7, 17:

fontium qui celat origines Nilus,

source, Hor. C. 4, 14, 45:

auctore ab aliquo ducere originem,

to derive one's origin from, to descend from, id. ib. 3, 17, 5:

mentis causa malae est origo penes te,

Juv. 14, 226:

accipere,

to take its origin, originate, Quint. 5, 11, 19:

ducere ex Hispaniā,

to be of Spanish derivation, id. 1, 5, 57: deducere ab aliquo, to derive one's origin from, descend from, Plin. [p. 1279] 6, 20, 23, §

76: ab aliquo habere,

to draw one's origin from, descend from, id. 15, 14, 15, § 49:

trahere,

id. 5, 24, 21, § 86:

PATRONVS AB ORIGINE,

i. e. from his ancestors, Inscr. Fabr. p. 101, n. 232.—

In partic.:

Origines,

the title of a work by Cato upon the early history of the Italian cities, Nep. Cat. 3, 3:

quod (M. Cato) in principio scripsit Originum suarum,

Cic. Planc. 27, 66; id. Sen. 11, 38.—Hence, in allusion to this title: quam ob rem, ut ille solebat, ita nunc mea repetet oratio populi origines;

libenter enim etiam verbo utor Catonis,

Cic. Rep. 2, 1, 3.—

Transf.

A race, stock, family, Ov. M. 1, 186:

ille tamen nostrā deducit origine nomen,

Verg. A. 10, 618:

Vitelliorum originem alii aliam tradunt: partim veterem et nobilem, partim vero novam et obscuram, atque etiam sordidam,

Suet. Vit. 1.—Of animals, Verg. G. 3, 473. —

Of persons, an ancestor, progenitor, founder:

Aeneas, Romanae stirpis origo,

Verg. A. 12, 166:

celebrant carminibus antiquis Tuisconem deum terrā editum, et filium Mannum, originem gentis conditoresque,

Tac. G. 2:

hujus origo Ilus,

Ov. M. 11, 755:

mundi melioris origo,

the creator, id. ib. 1, 79; cf. Stat. Th. 1, 680:

eaeque (urbes) brevi multum auctae, pars originibus suis praesidio, aliae decori fuere,

their mother-cities, Sall. J. 19, 1; so Liv. 26, 13; 38, 39; also in sing., id. 37, 37; Inst. 23, 1.

Ŏrīgo, ĭnis, f., a female proper name, Hor. S. 1, 2, 55.

ŏrīgo, ĭnis, f. [orior], earliest beginning, commencement, source, descent, lineage, birth, origin (class.; syn. ortus).

Lit.

In gen.:

originem rerum quaerere,

Cic. Univ. 3:

origo tyranni,

id. Rep. 2, 29, 51:

principii nulla est origo: nam e principio oriuntur omnia,

id. ib. 6, 25, 27:

nullius autem rei causā remotā reperiri origo potest,

id. Univ. 2, 3:

rerum genitalis,

Lucr. 5, 176:

ab origine gentem (corripiunt morbi),

Verg. G. 3, 473:

summi boni,

Cic. Fin 2, 10, 31:

omnium virtutum,

id. ib. 4, 7, 17:

fontium qui celat origines Nilus,

source, Hor. C. 4, 14, 45:

auctore ab aliquo ducere originem,

to derive one's origin from, to descend from, id. ib. 3, 17, 5:

mentis causa malae est origo penes te,

Juv. 14, 226:

accipere,

to take its origin, originate, Quint. 5, 11, 19:

ducere ex Hispaniā,

to be of Spanish derivation, id. 1, 5, 57: deducere ab aliquo, to derive one's origin from, descend from, Plin. [p. 1279] 6, 20, 23, §

76: ab aliquo habere,

to draw one's origin from, descend from, id. 15, 14, 15, § 49:

trahere,

id. 5, 24, 21, § 86:

PATRONVS AB ORIGINE,

i. e. from his ancestors, Inscr. Fabr. p. 101, n. 232.—

In partic.:

Origines,

the title of a work by Cato upon the early history of the Italian cities, Nep. Cat. 3, 3:

quod (M. Cato) in principio scripsit Originum suarum,

Cic. Planc. 27, 66; id. Sen. 11, 38.—Hence, in allusion to this title: quam ob rem, ut ille solebat, ita nunc mea repetet oratio populi origines;

libenter enim etiam verbo utor Catonis,

Cic. Rep. 2, 1, 3.—

Transf.

A race, stock, family, Ov. M. 1, 186:

ille tamen nostrā deducit origine nomen,

Verg. A. 10, 618:

Vitelliorum originem alii aliam tradunt: partim veterem et nobilem, partim vero novam et obscuram, atque etiam sordidam,

Suet. Vit. 1.—Of animals, Verg. G. 3, 473. —

Of persons, an ancestor, progenitor, founder:

Aeneas, Romanae stirpis origo,

Verg. A. 12, 166:

celebrant carminibus antiquis Tuisconem deum terrā editum, et filium Mannum, originem gentis conditoresque,

Tac. G. 2:

hujus origo Ilus,

Ov. M. 11, 755:

mundi melioris origo,

the creator, id. ib. 1, 79; cf. Stat. Th. 1, 680:

eaeque (urbes) brevi multum auctae, pars originibus suis praesidio, aliae decori fuere,

their mother-cities, Sall. J. 19, 1; so Liv. 26, 13; 38, 39; also in sing., id. 37, 37; Inst. 23, 1.

Ŏrīgo, ĭnis, f., a female proper name, Hor. S. 1, 2, 55.

SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour

[br]

[br]

[br]

Belidor was the son of a French army officer, who died when he was six months old, and was thereafter brought up by a brother officer. He soon demonstrated a scientific bent, and gravitated to Paris, where he became involved in the determination of the Paris meridian. He was then appointed Professor at the artillery school at La Fère, where he began to pursue the science of ballistics in earnest. He was able to disprove the popular theory that range was directly proportional to the powder charge, and also argued that the explosive power of a charge was greatest at the end of the explosion; he advocated spherical chambers in order to take advantage of this. His ideas made him unpopular with the "establishment", especially the Master of the King's artillery, and he was forced to leave France for a time, becoming a consultant to authorities in Bohemia and Bavaria. However, he was reinstated, and in 1758 he was appointed Royal Inspector of Artillery, a post that he held until his death.

Belidor also made a name for himself in hydraulics and influenced design in this field for more than a century after his death. In addition, he was the first to make practical application of integral calculus.

[br]

SUBJECT AREA: Textiles

[br]

[br]

[br]

Berthollet qualified as a medical doctor and pursued chemical researches, notably into "muriatic acid" (chlorine), then recently discovered by Scheele. He was one of the first chemists to embrace the new system of chemistry advanced by Lavoisier. Berthollet held several official appointments, among them inspector of dye works (from 1784) and Director of the Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins. These appointments enabled him to continue his researches and embark on a series of publications on the practical applications of chlorine, prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) and ammonia. He clearly demonstrated the benefits of the French practice of appointing scientists to the state manufactories.

There were two practical results of Berthollet's studies of chlorine. First, he produced a powerful explosive by substituting potassium chlorate, formed by the action of chlorine on potash, in place of nitre (potassium nitrate) in gunpowder. Then, mainly from humanitarian motives, he followed up Scheele's observation of the bleaching properties of chlorine water, in order to release for cultivation the considerable areas of land that had hitherto been required by the old bleaching process. The chlorine method greatly speeded up bleaching; this was a vital factor in the revolution in the textile industries.

After a visit to Egypt in 1799, Berthollet carried out many experiments on dyeing, seeking to place this ancient craft onto a scientific basis. His work is summed up in his Eléments de l'art de la teinture, Paris, 1791.

[br]