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  • 1 Language

       Philosophy is written in that great book, the universe, which is always open, right before our eyes. But one cannot understand this book without first learning to understand the language and to know the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and the characters are triangles, circles, and other figures. Without these, one cannot understand a single word of it, and just wanders in a dark labyrinth. (Galileo, 1990, p. 232)
       It never happens that it [a nonhuman animal] arranges its speech in various ways in order to reply appropriately to everything that may be said in its presence, as even the lowest type of man can do. (Descartes, 1970a, p. 116)
       It is a very remarkable fact that there are none so depraved and stupid, without even excepting idiots, that they cannot arrange different words together, forming of them a statement by which they make known their thoughts; while, on the other hand, there is no other animal, however perfect and fortunately circumstanced it may be, which can do the same. (Descartes, 1967, p. 116)
       Human beings do not live in the object world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built on the language habits of the group.... We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation. (Sapir, 1921, p. 75)
       It powerfully conditions all our thinking about social problems and processes.... No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same worlds with different labels attached. (Sapir, 1985, p. 162)
       [A list of language games, not meant to be exhaustive:]
       Giving orders, and obeying them- Describing the appearance of an object, or giving its measurements- Constructing an object from a description (a drawing)Reporting an eventSpeculating about an eventForming and testing a hypothesisPresenting the results of an experiment in tables and diagramsMaking up a story; and reading itPlay actingSinging catchesGuessing riddlesMaking a joke; and telling it
       Solving a problem in practical arithmeticTranslating from one language into another
       LANGUAGE Asking, thanking, cursing, greeting, and praying-. (Wittgenstein, 1953, Pt. I, No. 23, pp. 11 e-12 e)
       We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages.... The world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds-and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds.... No individual is free to describe nature with absolute impartiality but is constrained to certain modes of interpretation even while he thinks himself most free. (Whorf, 1956, pp. 153, 213-214)
       We dissect nature along the lines laid down by our native languages.
       The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds-and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds.... We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity, which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar or can in some way be calibrated. (Whorf, 1956, pp. 213-214)
       9) The Forms of a Person's Thoughts Are Controlled by Unperceived Patterns of His Own Language
       The forms of a person's thoughts are controlled by inexorable laws of pattern of which he is unconscious. These patterns are the unperceived intricate systematizations of his own language-shown readily enough by a candid comparison and contrast with other languages, especially those of a different linguistic family. (Whorf, 1956, p. 252)
       It has come to be commonly held that many utterances which look like statements are either not intended at all, or only intended in part, to record or impart straightforward information about the facts.... Many traditional philosophical perplexities have arisen through a mistake-the mistake of taking as straightforward statements of fact utterances which are either (in interesting non-grammatical ways) nonsensical or else intended as something quite different. (Austin, 1962, pp. 2-3)
       In general, one might define a complex of semantic components connected by logical constants as a concept. The dictionary of a language is then a system of concepts in which a phonological form and certain syntactic and morphological characteristics are assigned to each concept. This system of concepts is structured by several types of relations. It is supplemented, furthermore, by redundancy or implicational rules..., representing general properties of the whole system of concepts.... At least a relevant part of these general rules is not bound to particular languages, but represents presumably universal structures of natural languages. They are not learned, but are rather a part of the human ability to acquire an arbitrary natural language. (Bierwisch, 1970, pp. 171-172)
       In studying the evolution of mind, we cannot guess to what extent there are physically possible alternatives to, say, transformational generative grammar, for an organism meeting certain other physical conditions characteristic of humans. Conceivably, there are none-or very few-in which case talk about evolution of the language capacity is beside the point. (Chomsky, 1972, p. 98)
       [It is] truth value rather than syntactic well-formedness that chiefly governs explicit verbal reinforcement by parents-which renders mildly paradoxical the fact that the usual product of such a training schedule is an adult whose speech is highly grammatical but not notably truthful. (R. O. Brown, 1973, p. 330)
       he conceptual base is responsible for formally representing the concepts underlying an utterance.... A given word in a language may or may not have one or more concepts underlying it.... On the sentential level, the utterances of a given language are encoded within a syntactic structure of that language. The basic construction of the sentential level is the sentence.
       The next highest level... is the conceptual level. We call the basic construction of this level the conceptualization. A conceptualization consists of concepts and certain relations among those concepts. We can consider that both levels exist at the same point in time and that for any unit on one level, some corresponding realizate exists on the other level. This realizate may be null or extremely complex.... Conceptualizations may relate to other conceptualizations by nesting or other specified relationships. (Schank, 1973, pp. 191-192)
       The mathematics of multi-dimensional interactive spaces and lattices, the projection of "computer behavior" on to possible models of cerebral functions, the theoretical and mechanical investigation of artificial intelligence, are producing a stream of sophisticated, often suggestive ideas.
       But it is, I believe, fair to say that nothing put forward until now in either theoretic design or mechanical mimicry comes even remotely in reach of the most rudimentary linguistic realities. (Steiner, 1975, p. 284)
       The step from the simple tool to the master tool, a tool to make tools (what we would now call a machine tool), seems to me indeed to parallel the final step to human language, which I call reconstitution. It expresses in a practical and social context the same understanding of hierarchy, and shows the same analysis by function as a basis for synthesis. (Bronowski, 1977, pp. 127-128)
        t is the language donn eґ in which we conduct our lives.... We have no other. And the danger is that formal linguistic models, in their loosely argued analogy with the axiomatic structure of the mathematical sciences, may block perception.... It is quite conceivable that, in language, continuous induction from simple, elemental units to more complex, realistic forms is not justified. The extent and formal "undecidability" of context-and every linguistic particle above the level of the phoneme is context-bound-may make it impossible, except in the most abstract, meta-linguistic sense, to pass from "pro-verbs," "kernals," or "deep deep structures" to actual speech. (Steiner, 1975, pp. 111-113)
       A higher-level formal language is an abstract machine. (Weizenbaum, 1976, p. 113)
       Jakobson sees metaphor and metonymy as the characteristic modes of binarily opposed polarities which between them underpin the two-fold process of selection and combination by which linguistic signs are formed.... Thus messages are constructed, as Saussure said, by a combination of a "horizontal" movement, which combines words together, and a "vertical" movement, which selects the particular words from the available inventory or "inner storehouse" of the language. The combinative (or syntagmatic) process manifests itself in contiguity (one word being placed next to another) and its mode is metonymic. The selective (or associative) process manifests itself in similarity (one word or concept being "like" another) and its mode is metaphoric. The "opposition" of metaphor and metonymy therefore may be said to represent in effect the essence of the total opposition between the synchronic mode of language (its immediate, coexistent, "vertical" relationships) and its diachronic mode (its sequential, successive, lineal progressive relationships). (Hawkes, 1977, pp. 77-78)
       It is striking that the layered structure that man has given to language constantly reappears in his analyses of nature. (Bronowski, 1977, p. 121)
       First, [an ideal intertheoretic reduction] provides us with a set of rules"correspondence rules" or "bridge laws," as the standard vernacular has it-which effect a mapping of the terms of the old theory (T o) onto a subset of the expressions of the new or reducing theory (T n). These rules guide the application of those selected expressions of T n in the following way: we are free to make singular applications of their correspondencerule doppelgangers in T o....
       Second, and equally important, a successful reduction ideally has the outcome that, under the term mapping effected by the correspondence rules, the central principles of T o (those of semantic and systematic importance) are mapped onto general sentences of T n that are theorems of Tn. (P. Churchland, 1979, p. 81)
       If non-linguistic factors must be included in grammar: beliefs, attitudes, etc. [this would] amount to a rejection of the initial idealization of language as an object of study. A priori such a move cannot be ruled out, but it must be empirically motivated. If it proves to be correct, I would conclude that language is a chaos that is not worth studying.... Note that the question is not whether beliefs or attitudes, and so on, play a role in linguistic behavior and linguistic judgments... [but rather] whether distinct cognitive structures can be identified, which interact in the real use of language and linguistic judgments, the grammatical system being one of these. (Chomsky, 1979, pp. 140, 152-153)
        23) Language Is Inevitably Influenced by Specific Contexts of Human Interaction
       Language cannot be studied in isolation from the investigation of "rationality." It cannot afford to neglect our everyday assumptions concerning the total behavior of a reasonable person.... An integrational linguistics must recognize that human beings inhabit a communicational space which is not neatly compartmentalized into language and nonlanguage.... It renounces in advance the possibility of setting up systems of forms and meanings which will "account for" a central core of linguistic behavior irrespective of the situation and communicational purposes involved. (Harris, 1981, p. 165)
       By innate [linguistic knowledge], Chomsky simply means "genetically programmed." He does not literally think that children are born with language in their heads ready to be spoken. He merely claims that a "blueprint is there, which is brought into use when the child reaches a certain point in her general development. With the help of this blueprint, she analyzes the language she hears around her more readily than she would if she were totally unprepared for the strange gabbling sounds which emerge from human mouths. (Aitchison, 1987, p. 31)
       Looking at ourselves from the computer viewpoint, we cannot avoid seeing that natural language is our most important "programming language." This means that a vast portion of our knowledge and activity is, for us, best communicated and understood in our natural language.... One could say that natural language was our first great original artifact and, since, as we increasingly realize, languages are machines, so natural language, with our brains to run it, was our primal invention of the universal computer. One could say this except for the sneaking suspicion that language isn't something we invented but something we became, not something we constructed but something in which we created, and recreated, ourselves. (Leiber, 1991, p. 8)

    Historical dictionary of quotations in cognitive science > Language

  • 2 alpha rating

    Fin
    the return a security or a portfolio would be expected to earn if the market’s rate of return were zero. Alpha expresses the difference between the return expected from a stock or unit trust, given its beta rating, and the return actually produced. A stock or trust that returns more than its beta would predict has a positive alpha, while one that returns less than the amount predicted by beta has a negative alpha. A large positive alpha indicates a strong performance, while a large negative alpha indicates a dismal performance.
         To begin with, the market itself is assigned a beta of 1.0. If a stock or trust has a beta of 1.2, this means its price is likely to rise or fall by 12% when the overall market rises or falls by 10%; a beta of 7.0 means the stock or trust price is likely to move up or down at 70% of the level of the market change.
         In practice, an alpha of 0.4 means the stock or trust in question outperformed the market-based return estimate by 0.4%. An alpha of –0.6 means the return was 0.6% less than would have been predicted from the change in the market alone.
         Both alpha and beta should be readily available upon request from investment firms, because the figures appear in standard performance reports. It is always best to ask for them, because calculating a stock’s alpha rating requires first knowing a stock’s beta rating, and beta calculations can involve mathematical complexities.

    The ultimate business dictionary > alpha rating

  • 3 Chronology

      15,000-3,000 BCE Paleolithic cultures in western Portugal.
      400-200 BCE Greek and Carthaginian trade settlements on coast.
      202 BCE Roman armies invade ancient Lusitania.
      137 BCE Intensive Romanization of Lusitania begins.
      410 CE Germanic tribes — Suevi and Visigoths—begin conquest of Roman Lusitania and Galicia.
      714—16 Muslims begin conquest of Visigothic Lusitania.
      1034 Christian Reconquest frontier reaches Mondego River.
      1064 Christians conquer Coimbra.
      1139 Burgundian Count Afonso Henriques proclaims himself king of Portugal; birth of Portugal. Battle of Ourique: Afonso Henriques defeats Muslims.
      1147 With English Crusaders' help, Portuguese seize Lisbon from Muslims.
      1179 Papacy formally recognizes Portugal's independence (Pope Alexander III).
      1226 Campaign to reclaim Alentejo from Muslims begins.
      1249 Last Muslim city (Silves) falls to Portuguese Army.
      1381 Beginning of third war between Castile and Portugal.
      1383 Master of Aviz, João, proclaimed regent by Lisbon populace.
      1385 April: Master of Aviz, João I, proclaimed king of Portugal by Cortes of Coimbra. 14 August: Battle of Aljubarrota, Castilians defeated by royal forces, with assistance of English army.
      1394 Birth of "Prince Henry the Navigator," son of King João I.
      1415 Beginning of overseas expansion as Portugal captures Moroccan city of Ceuta.
      1419 Discovery of Madeira Islands.
      1425-28 Prince D. Pedro, older brother of Prince Henry, travels in Europe.
      1427 Discovery (or rediscovery?) of Azores Islands.
      1434 Prince Henry the Navigator's ships pass beyond Cape Bojador, West Africa.
      1437 Disaster at Tangier, Morocco, as Portuguese fail to capture city.
      1441 First African slaves from western Africa reach Portugal.
      1460 Death of Prince Henry. Portuguese reach what is now Senegal, West Africa.
      1470s Portuguese explore West African coast and reach what is now Ghana and Nigeria and begin colonizing islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.
      1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas between kings of Portugal and Spain.
      1482 Portuguese establish post at São Jorge da Mina, Gold Coast (now Ghana).
      1482-83 Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão reaches mouth of Congo River and Angola.
      1488 Navigator Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and finds route to Indian Ocean.
      1492-93 Columbus's first voyage to West Indies.
      1493 Columbus visits Azores and Portugal on return from first voyage; tells of discovery of New World. Treaty of Tordesillas signed between kings of Portugal and Spain: delimits spheres of conquest with line 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands (claimed by Portugal); Portugal's sphere to east of line includes, in effect, Brazil.
       King Manuel I and Royal Council decide to continue seeking all-water route around Africa to Asia.
       King Manuel I expels unconverted Jews from Portugal.
      1497-99 Epic voyage of Vasco da Gama from Portugal around Africa to west India, successful completion of sea route to Asia project; da Gama returns to Portugal with samples of Asian spices.
      1500 Bound for India, Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral "discovers" coast of Brazil and claims it for Portugal.
      1506 Anti-Jewish riots in Lisbon.
       Battle of Diu, India; Portugal's command of Indian Ocean assured for some time with Francisco de Almeida's naval victory over Egyptian and Gujerati fleets.
       Afonso de Albuquerque conquers Goa, India; beginning of Portuguese hegemony in south Asia.
       Portuguese conquest of Malacca; commerce in Spice Islands.
      1519 Magellan begins circumnavigation voyage.
      1536 Inquisition begins in Portugal.
      1543 Portuguese merchants reach Japan.
      1557 Portuguese merchants granted Chinese territory of Macau for trading factory.
      1572 Luís de Camões publishes epic poem, Os Lusíadas.
      1578 Battle of Alcácer-Quivir; Moroccan forces defeat army of King Sebastião of Portugal; King Sebastião dies in battle. Portuguese succession crisis.
      1580 King Phillip II of Spain claims and conquers Portugal; Spanish rule of Portugal, 1580-1640.
      1607-24 Dutch conquer sections of Asia and Brazil formerly held by Portugal.
      1640 1 December: Portuguese revolution in Lisbon overthrows Spanish rule, restores independence. Beginning of Portugal's Braganza royal dynasty.
      1654 Following Dutch invasions and conquest of parts of Brazil and Angola, Dutch expelled by force.
      1661 Anglo-Portuguese Alliance treaty signed: England pledges to defend Portugal "as if it were England itself." Queen Catherine of Bra-ganza marries England's Charles II.
      1668 February: In Portuguese-Spanish peace treaty, Spain recognizes independence of Portugal, thus ending 28-year War of Restoration.
      1703 Methuen Treaties signed, key commercial trade agreement and defense treaty between England and Portugal.
      1750 Pombal becomes chief minister of King José I.
      1755 1 November: Massive Lisbon earthquake, tidal wave, and fire.
      1759 Expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal and colonies.
      1761 Slavery abolished in continental Portugal.
      1769 Abandonment of Mazagão, Morocco, last Portuguese outpost.
      1777 Pombal dismissed as chief minister by Queen Maria I, after death of José I.
      1791 Portugal and United States establish full diplomatic relations.
      1807 November: First Napoleonic invasion; French forces under Junot conquer Portugal. Royal family flees to colony of Brazil and remains there until 1821.
      1809 Second French invasion of Portugal under General Soult.
      1811 Third French invasion of Portugal under General Masséna.
      1813 Following British general Wellington's military victories, French forces evacuate Portugal.
      1817 Liberal, constitutional movements against absolutist monarchist rule break out in Brazil (Pernambuco) and Portugal (Lisbon, under General Gomes Freire); crushed by government. British marshal of Portugal's army, Beresford, rules Portugal.
       Liberal insurrection in army officer corps breaks out in Cadiz, Spain, and influences similar movement in Portugal's armed forces first in Oporto.
       King João VI returns from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and early draft of constitution; era of constitutional monarchy begins.
      1822 7 September: João VI's son Pedro proclaims independence of
       Brazil from Portugal and is named emperor. 23 September: Constitution of 1822 ratified.
       Portugal recognizes sovereign independence of Brazil.
       King João VI dies; power struggle for throne ensues between his sons, brothers Pedro and Miguel; Pedro, emperor of Brazil, abdicates Portuguese throne in favor of his daughter, D. Maria II, too young to assume crown. By agreement, Miguel, uncle of D. Maria, is to accept constitution and rule in her stead.
      1828 Miguel takes throne and abolishes constitution. Sections of Portugal rebel against Miguelite rule.
      1831 Emperor Pedro abdicates throne of Brazil and returns to Portugal to expel King Miguel from Portuguese throne.
      1832-34 Civil war between absolutist King Miguel and constitutionalist Pedro, who abandons throne of Brazil to restore his young daughter Maria to throne of Portugal; Miguel's armed forces defeated by those of Pedro. Miguel leaves for exile and constitution (1826 Charter) is restored.
      1834-53 Constitutional monarchy consolidated under rule of Queen Maria II, who dies in 1853.
      1851-71 Regeneration period of economic development and political stability; public works projects sponsored by Minister Fontes Pereira de Melo.
      1871-90 Rotativism period of alternating party governments; achieves political stability and less military intervention in politics and government. Expansion of colonial territory in tropical Africa.
       January: Following territorial dispute in central Africa, Britain delivers "Ultimatum" to Portugal demanding withdrawal of Portugal's forces from what is now Malawi and Zimbabwe. Portugal's government, humiliated in accepting demand under threat of a diplomatic break, falls. Beginning of governmental and political instability; monarchist decline and republicanism's rise.
       Anglo-Portuguese treaties signed relating to delimitation of frontiers in colonial Africa.
      1899 Treaty of Windsor; renewal of Anglo-Portuguese defense and friendship alliance.
      1903 Triumphal visit of King Edward VII to Portugal.
      1906 Politician João Franco supported by King Carlos I in dictatorship to restore order and reform.
      1908 1 February: Murder in Lisbon of King Carlos I and his heir apparent, Prince Dom Luís, by Portuguese anarchists. Eighteen-year-old King Manuel II assumes throne.
      1910 3-5 October: Following republican-led military insurrection in armed forces, monarchy falls and first Portuguese republic is proclaimed. Beginning of unstable, economically troubled, parliamentary republic form of government.
       May: Violent insurrection in Lisbon overturns government of General Pimenta de Castro; nearly a thousand casualties from several days of armed combat in capital.
       March: Following Portugal's honoring ally Britain's request to confiscate German shipping in Portuguese harbors, Germany declares war on Portugal; Portugal enters World War I on Allied side.
       Portugal organizes and dispatches Portuguese Expeditionary Corps to fight on the Western Front. 9 April: Portuguese forces mauled by German offensive in Battle of Lys. Food rationing and riots in Lisbon. Portuguese military operations in Mozambique against German expedition's invasion from German East Africa. 5 December: Authoritarian, presidentialist government under Major Sidónio Pais takes power in Lisbon, following a successful military coup.
      1918 11 November: Armistice brings cessation of hostilities on Western Front in World War I. Portuguese expeditionary forces stationed in Angola, Mozambique, and Flanders begin return trip to Portugal. 14 December: President Sidónio Pais assassinated. Chaotic period of ephemeral civil war ensues.
      1919-21 Excessively unstable political period, including January
      1919 abortive effort of Portuguese monarchists to restore Braganza dynasty to power. Republican forces prevail, but level of public violence, economic distress, and deprivation remains high.
      1921 October: Political violence attains peak with murder of former prime minister and other prominent political figures in Lisbon. Sectors of armed forces and Guarda Nacional Republicana are mutinous. Year of financial and corruption scandals, including Portuguese bank note (fraud) case; military court acquits guilty military insurrectionists, and one military judge declares "the country is sick."
       28 May: Republic overthrown by military coup or pronunciamento and conspiracy among officer corps. Parliament's doors locked and parliament closed for nearly nine years to January 1935. End of parliamentary republic, Western Europe's most unstable political system in this century, beginning of the Portuguese dictatorship, after 1930 known as the Estado Novo. Officer corps assumes reins of government, initiates military censorship of the press, and suppresses opposition.
       February: Military dictatorship under General Óscar Carmona crushes failed republican armed insurrection in Oporto and Lisbon.
       April: Military dictatorship names Professor Antônio de Oliveira Salazar minister of finance, with dictatorial powers over budget, to stabilize finances and rebuild economy. Insurrectionism among military elements continues into 1931.
      1930 Dr. Salazar named minister for colonies and announces balanced budgets. Salazar consolidates support by various means, including creation of official regime "movement," the National Union. Salazar engineers Colonial Act to ensure Lisbon's control of bankrupt African colonies by means of new fiscal controls and centralization of authority. July: Military dictatorship names Salazar prime minister for first time, and cabinet composition undergoes civilianization; academic colleagues and protégés plan conservative reform and rejuvenation of society, polity, and economy. Regime comes to be called the Estado Novo (New State). New State's constitution ratified by new parliament, the National Assembly; Portugal described in document as "unitary, corporative Republic" and governance influenced by Salazar's stern personality and doctrines such as integralism, Catholicism, and fiscal conservatism.
      1936 Violent instability and ensuing civil war in neighboring Spain, soon internationalized by fascist and communist intervention, shake Estado Novo regime. Pseudofascist period of regime features creation of imitation Fascist institutions to defend regime from leftist threats; Portugal institutes "Portuguese Youth" and "Portuguese Legion."
      1939 3 September: Prime Minister Salazar declares Portugal's neutrality in World War II. October: Anglo-Portuguese agreement grants naval and air base facilities to Britain and later to United States for Battle of the Atlantic and Normandy invasion support. Third Reich protests breach of Portugal's neutrality.
       6 June: On day of Allies' Normandy invasion, Portugal suspends mining and export of wolfram ore to both sides in war.
       8 May: Popular celebrations of Allied victory and Fascist defeat in Lisbon and Oporto coincide with Victory in Europe Day. Following managed elections for Estado Novo's National Assembly in November, regime police, renamed PIDE, with increased powers, represses opposition.
      1947 Abortive military coup in central Portugal easily crushed by regime. Independence of India and initiation of Indian protests against Portuguese colonial rule in Goa and other enclaves.
      1949 Portugal becomes founding member of NATO.
      1951 Portugal alters constitution and renames overseas colonies "Overseas Provinces." Portugal and United States sign military base agreements for use of air and naval facilities in Azores Islands and military aid to Lisbon. President Carmona dies in office, succeeded by General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58). July: Indians occupy enclave of Portuguese India (dependency of Damão) by means of passive resistance movement. August: Indian passive resistance movement in Portuguese India repelled by Portuguese forces with loss of life. December: With U.S. backing, Portugal admitted as member of United Nations (along with Spain). Air force general Humberto Delgado, in opposition, challenges Estado Novo's hand-picked successor to Craveiro Lopes, Admiral Américo Tomás. Delgado rallies coalition of democratic, liberal, and communist opposition but loses rigged election and later flees to exile in Brazil. Portugal joins European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
       January and February: Estado Novo rocked by armed African insurrection in northern Angola, crushed by armed forces. Hijacking of Portuguese ocean liner by ally of Delgado, Captain Henrique Galvão. April: Salazar defeats attempted military coup and reshuffles cabinet with group of younger figures who seek to reform colonial rule and strengthen the regime's image abroad. 18 December: Indian army rapidly defeats Portugal's defense force in Goa, Damão, and Diu and incorporates Portugal's Indian possessions into Indian Union. January: Abortive military coup in Beja, Portugal.
      1965 February: General Delgado and his Brazilian secretary murdered and secretly buried near Spanish frontier by political police, PIDE.
      1968 August and September: Prime Minister Salazar, aged 79, suffers crippling stoke. President Tomás names former cabinet officer Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor. Caetano institutes modest reforms in Portugal and overseas.
      1971 Caetano government ratifies amended constitution that allows slight devolution and autonomy to overseas provinces in Africa and Asia. Right-wing loyalists oppose reforms in Portugal. 25 April: Military coup engineered by Armed Forces Movement overthrows Estado Novo and establishes provisional government emphasizing democratization, development, and decolonization. Limited resistance by loyalists. President Tomás and Premier Caetano flown to exile first in Madeira and then in Brazil. General Spínola appointed president. September: Revolution moves to left, as President Spínola, thwarted in his program, resigns.
       March: Military coup by conservative forces fails, and leftist response includes nationalization of major portion of economy. Polarization between forces and parties of left and right. 25 November: Military coup by moderate military elements thwarts leftist forces. Constituent Assembly prepares constitution. Revolution moves from left to center and then right.
       March: Constitution ratified by Assembly of the Republic. 25 April: Second general legislative election gives largest share of seats to Socialist Party (PS). Former oppositionist lawyer, Mário Soares, elected deputy and named prime minister.
      1977-85 Political pendulum of democratic Portugal moves from center-left to center-right, as Social Democratic Party (PSD) increases hold on assembly and take office under Prime Minister Cavaco Silva. July
      1985 elections give edge to PSD who advocate strong free-enterprise measures and revision of leftist-generated 1976 Constitution, amended modestly in 1982.
      1986 January: Portugal joins European Economic Community (EEC).
      1987 July: General, legislative elections for assembly give more than 50 percent to PSD led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva. For first time, since 1974, Portugal has a working majority government.
      1989 June: Following revisions of 1976 Constitution, reprivatization of economy begins, under PS government.
       January: Presidential elections, Mário Soares reelected for second term. July: General, legislative elections for assembly result in new PSD victory and majority government.
       January-July: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the European Economic Community (EEC). December: Tariff barriers fall as fully integrated Common Market established in the EEC.
       November: Treaty of Maastricht comes into force. The EEC officially becomes the European Union (EU). Portugal is signatory with 11 other member-nations.
       October: General, legislative elections for assembly result in PS victory and naming of Prime Minister Guterres. PS replace PSD as leading political party. November: Excavations for Lisbon bank uncover ancient Phoenician, Roman, and Christian ruins.
       January: General, presidential elections; socialist Jorge Sampaio defeats PSD's Cavaco Silva and assumes presidency from Dr. Mário Soares. July: Community of Portuguese Languages Countries (CPLP) cofounded by Portugal and Brazil.
       May-September: Expo '98 held in Lisbon. Opening of Vasco da Gama Bridge across Tagus River, Europe's longest (17 kilometers/ 11 miles). June: National referendum on abortion law change defeated after low voter turnout. November: National referendum on regionaliza-tion and devolution of power defeated after another low voter turnout.
       October: General, legislative elections: PS victory over PSD lacks clear majority in parliament. Following East Timor referendum, which votes for independence and withdrawal of Indonesia, outburst of popular outrage in streets, media, and communications of Portugal approves armed intervention and administration of United Nations (and withdrawal of Indonesia) in East Timor. Portugal and Indonesia restore diplomatic relations. December: A Special Territory since 1975, Colony of Macau transferred to sovereignty of People's Republic of China.
       January-June: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the EU; end of Discoveries Historical Commemoration Cycle (1988-2000).
       United Nations forces continue to occupy and administer former colony of East Timor, with Portugal's approval.
       January: General, presidential elections; PS president Sampaio reelected for second term. City of Oporto, "European City of Culture" for the year, hosts arts festival. December: Municipal elections: PSD defeats PS; socialist prime minister Guterres resigns; President Sampaio calls March parliamentary elections.
       1 January: Portugal enters single European Currency system. Euro currency adopted and ceases use of former national currency, the escudo. March: Parliamentary elections; PSD defeats PS and José Durão Barroso becomes prime minister. Military modernization law passed. Portugal holds chairmanship of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
       May: Municipal law passed permitting municipalities to reorganize in new ways.
       June: Prime Minister Durão Barroso, invited to succeed Romano Prodi as president of EU Commission, resigns. Pedro Santana Lopes becomes prime minister. European Parliament elections held. Conscription for national service in army and navy ended. Mass grave uncovered at Academy of Sciences Museum, Lisbon, revealing remains of several thousand victims of Lisbon earthquake, 1755.
       February: Parliamentary elections; PS defeats PSD, socialists win first absolute majority in parliament since 1975. José Sócrates becomes prime minister.
       January: Presidential elections; PSD candidate Aníbal Cavaco Silva elected and assumes presidency from Jorge Sampaio. Portugal's national soccer team ranked 7th out of 205 countries by international soccer association. European Union's Bologna Process in educational reform initiated in Portugal.
       July-December: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the European Union. For reasons of economy, Portugal announces closure of many consulates, especially in France and the eastern US. Government begins official inspections of private institutions of higher education, following scandals.
      2008 January: Prime Minister Sócrates announces location of new Lisbon area airport as Alcochete, on south bank of Tagus River, site of air force shooting range. February: Portuguese Army begins to receive new modern battle tanks (Leopard 2 A6). March: Mass protest of 85,000 public school (primary and secondary levels) teachers in Lisbon schools dispute recent educational policies of minister of education and prime minister.

    Historical dictionary of Portugal > Chronology

  • 4 bill of exchange

    Fin
    an unconditional order in writing from one person (the drawer) to another (the drawee and signatory), requiring the drawee to pay on demand a sum to a specified person (the payee) or bearer. It is now usually used in overseas trade and the drawee may be a bank as opposed to an importer.
         The supplier or drawer usually submits the bill with the relative shipping documents. It is then anticipated by the drawee either as the agreed or implied method of payment. On receipt, the drawee either makes the required payment, or if payment is to be made at a future date, indicates acceptance by signing it.
         Wording on the bill will state when payment has to be made, for example, “60 days after date, we promise to pay...” means 60 days after the date of the bill; “60 days after sight, we promise to pay...” means 60 days after acceptance; and at sight means the bill is payable upon presentation.
         Once accepted, a bill of exchange is a negotiable instrument. The drawer can therefore obtain the money it represents by selling it to a financial institution at a discount. In the United Kingdom, the complex statutory law relating to these instruments is found in the Bills of Exchange Act (1882).

    The ultimate business dictionary > bill of exchange

  • 5 Huygens, Christiaan

    SUBJECT AREA: Horology
    [br]
    b. 14 April 1629 The Hague, the Netherlands
    d. 8 June 1695 The Hague, the Netherlands
    [br]
    Dutch scientist who was responsible for two of the greatest advances in horology: the successful application of both the pendulum to the clock and the balance spring to the watch.
    [br]
    Huygens was born into a cultured and privileged class. His father, Constantijn, was a poet and statesman who had wide interests. Constantijn exerted a strong influence on his son, who was educated at home until he reached the age of 16. Christiaan studied law and mathematics at Ley den University from 1645 to 1647, and continued his studies at the Collegium Arausiacum in Breda until 1649. He then lived at The Hague, where he had the means to devote his time entirely to study. In 1666 he became a Member of the Académie des Sciences in Paris and settled there until his return to The Hague in 1681. He also had a close relationship with the Royal Society and visited London on three occasions, meeting Newton on his last visit in 1689. Huygens had a wide range of interests and made significant contributions in mathematics, astronomy, optics and mechanics. He also made technical advances in optical instruments and horology.
    Despite the efforts of Burgi there had been no significant improvement in the performance of ordinary clocks and watches from their inception to Huygens's time, as they were controlled by foliots or balances which had no natural period of oscillation. The pendulum appeared to offer a means of improvement as it had a natural period of oscillation that was almost independent of amplitude. Galileo Galilei had already pioneered the use of a freely suspended pendulum for timing events, but it was by no means obvious how it could be kept swinging and used to control a clock. Towards the end of his life Galileo described such a. mechanism to his son Vincenzio, who constructed a model after his father's death, although it was not completed when he himself died in 1642. This model appears to have been copied in Italy, but it had little influence on horology, partly because of the circumstances in which it was produced and possibly also because it differed radically from clocks of that period. The crucial event occurred on Christmas Day 1656 when Huygens, quite independently, succeeded in adapting an existing spring-driven table clock so that it was not only controlled by a pendulum but also kept it swinging. In the following year he was granted a privilege or patent for this clock, and several were made by the clockmaker Salomon Coster of The Hague. The use of the pendulum produced a dramatic improvement in timekeeping, reducing the daily error from minutes to seconds, but Huygens was aware that the pendulum was not truly isochronous. This error was magnified by the use of the existing verge escapement, which made the pendulum swing through a large arc. He overcame this defect very elegantly by fitting cheeks at the pendulum suspension point, progressively reducing the effective length of the pendulum as the amplitude increased. Initially the cheeks were shaped empirically, but he was later able to show that they should have a cycloidal shape. The cheeks were not adopted universally because they introduced other defects, and the problem was eventually solved more prosaically by way of new escapements which reduced the swing of the pendulum. Huygens's clocks had another innovatory feature: maintaining power, which kept the clock going while it was being wound.
    Pendulums could not be used for portable timepieces, which continued to use balances despite their deficiencies. Robert Hooke was probably the first to apply a spring to the balance, but his efforts were not successful. From his work on the pendulum Huygens was well aware of the conditions necessary for isochronism in a vibrating system, and in January 1675, with a flash of inspiration, he realized that this could be achieved by controlling the oscillations of the balance with a spiral spring, an arrangement that is still used in mechanical watches. The first model was made for Huygens in Paris by the clockmaker Isaac Thuret, who attempted to appropriate the invention and patent it himself. Huygens had for many years been trying unsuccessfully to adapt the pendulum clock for use at sea (in order to determine longitude), and he hoped that a balance-spring timekeeper might be better suited for this purpose. However, he was disillusioned as its timekeeping proved to be much more susceptible to changes in temperature than that of the pendulum clock.
    [br]
    Principal Honours and Distinctions
    FRS 1663. Member of the Académie Royale des Sciences 1666.
    Bibliography
    For his complete works, see Oeuvres complètes de Christian Huygens, 1888–1950, 22 vols, The Hague.
    1658, Horologium, The Hague; repub., 1970, trans. E.L.Edwardes, Antiquarian
    Horology 7:35–55 (describes the pendulum clock).
    1673, Horologium Oscillatorium, Paris; repub., 1986, The Pendulum Clock or Demonstrations Concerning the Motion ofPendula as Applied to Clocks, trans.
    R.J.Blackwell, Ames.
    Further Reading
    H.J.M.Bos, 1972, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, ed. C.C.Gillispie, Vol. 6, New York, pp. 597–613 (for a fuller account of his life and scientific work, but note the incorrect date of his death).
    R.Plomp, 1979, Spring-Driven Dutch Pendulum Clocks, 1657–1710, Schiedam (describes Huygens's application of the pendulum to the clock).
    S.A.Bedini, 1991, The Pulse of Time, Florence (describes Galileo's contribution of the pendulum to the clock).
    J.H.Leopold, 1982, "L"Invention par Christiaan Huygens du ressort spiral réglant pour les montres', Huygens et la France, Paris, pp. 154–7 (describes the application of the balance spring to the watch).
    A.R.Hall, 1978, "Horology and criticism", Studia Copernica 16:261–81 (discusses Hooke's contribution).
    DV

    Biographical history of technology > Huygens, Christiaan

  • 6 Napier (Neper), John

    [br]
    b. 1550 Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
    d. 4 April 1617 Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland
    [br]
    Scottish mathematician and theological writer noted for his discovery of logarithms, a powerful aid to mathematical calculations.
    [br]
    Born into a family of Scottish landowners, at the early age of 13 years Napier went to the University of St Andrews in Fife, but he apparently left before taking his degree. An extreme Protestant, he was active in the struggles with the Roman Catholic Church and in 1594 he dedicated to James VI of Scotland his Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St John, an attempt to promote the Protestant case in the guise of a learned study. About this time, as well as being involved in the development of military equipment, he devoted much of his time to finding methods of simplifying the tedious calculations involved in astronomy. Eventually he realized that by representing numbers in terms of the power to which a "base" number needed to be raised to produce them, it was possible to perform multiplication and division and to find roots, by the simpler processes of addition, substraction and integer division, respectively.
    A description of the principle of his "logarithms" (from the Gk. logos, reckoning, and arithmos, number), how he arrived at the idea and how they could be used was published in 1614 under the title Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio. Two years after his death his Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Constructio appeared, in which he explained how to calculate the logarithms of numbers and gave tables of them to eight significant figures, a novel feature being the use of the decimal point to distinguish the integral and fractional parts of the logarithm. As originally conceived, Napier's tables of logarithms were calculated using the natural number e(=2.71828…) as the base, not directly, but in effect according to the formula: Naperian logx= 107(log e 107-log e x) so that the original Naperian logarithm of a number decreased as the number increased. However, prior to his death he had readily acceded to a suggestion by Henry Briggs that it would greatly facilitate their use if logarithms were simply defined as the value to which the decimal base 10 needed to be raised to realize the number in question. He was almost certainly also aware of the work of Joost Burgi.
    No doubt as an extension of his ideas of logarithms, Napier also devised a means of manually performing multiplication and division by means of a system of rods known as Napier's Bones, a forerunner of the modern slide-rule, which evolved as a result of successive developments by Edmund Gunther, William Oughtred and others. Other contributions to mathematics by Napier include important simplifying discoveries in spherical trigonometry. However, his discovery of logarithms was undoubtedly his greatest achievement.
    [br]
    Bibliography
    Napier's "Descriptio" and his "Constructio" were published in English translation as Description of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms (1857) and W.R.MacDonald's Construction of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms (1889), which also catalogues all his works. His Rabdologiae, seu Numerationis per Virgulas Libri Duo (1617) was published in English as Divining Rods, or Two Books of Numbering by Means of Rods (1667).
    Further Reading
    D.Stewart and W.Minto, 1787, An Account of the Life Writings and Inventions of John Napier of Merchiston (an early account of Napier's work).
    C.G.Knott (ed.), 1915, Napier Tercentenary Memorial Volume (the fullest account of Napier's work).
    KF

    Biographical history of technology > Napier (Neper), John

  • 7 Length

    LENGTH, S.S., L.S.
    Piece-goods are not always sold as 36-in. to the yard, very often they are less or more than 36-in. To indicate when this is done the terms " Short Stick " (S.S.) and "Long Stick" (L.S.) are used. S.S. means laps of 351/2-in.; L.S. means laps of 361/2-in. Some markets require the laps even longer than 361/2-in., in which case the inches are given after the number of laps, as 9037, which indicates 90 laps of 37-in.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Length

  • 8 S.S.

    LENGTH, S.S., L.S.
    Piece-goods are not always sold as 36-in. to the yard, very often they are less or more than 36-in. To indicate when this is done the terms " Short Stick " (S.S.) and "Long Stick" (L.S.) are used. S.S. means laps of 351/2-in.; L.S. means laps of 361/2-in. Some markets require the laps even longer than 361/2-in., in which case the inches are given after the number of laps, as 9037, which indicates 90 laps of 37-in.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > S.S.

  • 9 L.S.

    LENGTH, S.S., L.S.
    Piece-goods are not always sold as 36-in. to the yard, very often they are less or more than 36-in. To indicate when this is done the terms " Short Stick " (S.S.) and "Long Stick" (L.S.) are used. S.S. means laps of 351/2-in.; L.S. means laps of 361/2-in. Some markets require the laps even longer than 361/2-in., in which case the inches are given after the number of laps, as 9037, which indicates 90 laps of 37-in.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > L.S.

  • 10 Pitmanbar

    A silk and gold fabric, woven on hand looms in Yeola, India. This fabric is curiously woven, red on one side and yellow on the other, and its border is of gold and very dignified. Silk loin cloths are worn during the performance of religious ceremonies and during meals when cotton cloth is considered impure. It is called pitambar in Sanskrit as well as in modern languages. The word pitmanbar merely means a yellow cloth, and the probability is that this fabric was always yellow when it was first introduced, and although it is now dyed red, green, purple, orange or black, it still retains its first name, derived in all probability from the natural yellow colour of the Bombyx mori silk. Vishnu is called " Pitambar-dhari " in mythological books. This name literally means " one who bears a yellow cloth."

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Pitmanbar

  • 11 Ply

    A term often used to express the number of strands used to form a composite yarn, such as 2-ply, 3-ply means two threads and three threads doubled together. When used for cloth it means the number of layers used.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Ply

  • 12 Reed

    A term applied to the number of threads in a given space, usually 1/4-in. or 1-in. Shippers and makers understand the term " 17 reed " to mean 64 ends per inch in the cloth, that is 4 down. When a cloth is indicated by a reed in the quarter-inch count it usually means that the number of threads per inch is 4 less than the reed number X by 4. If the ends per inch are stated, it means that number actual. ———————— A metal comb fixed in a frame; the closeness of its wires determines the fineness of a cloth; it keeps the warp threads spaced evenly, forms a guide for the back of the shuttle, and beats up the weft to the fell of the cloth. Wires are fixed in the baulks at the top and bottom and the number of dents in one inch determines the counts. These wires are set equi-distant by tarred wrapping cords. The counts of a reed are stamped on the binder rods at the end. If required two black wires are set exactly one inch apart near the middle of the reed, the number of dents between indicating the count of the reed.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Reed

  • 13 Rukha

    The trade term in the Punjab meaning the face or right side of any cloth. Yak Rukha means fabric having a right and wrong side. Do Rukha means double-faced or reversible fabrics.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Rukha

  • 14 Silk Yarn Counts

    See Denier. Spun silk counts are based on the 840 yards hank, as in cotton, but in folded yarns the finished count is used, not the single count, with the number of component threads placed after the actual count resulting from the doubling. Thus 40/2 has 40 hanks of 840 yards in i-lb. and is composed of two threads of 80's single. Dram System - The weight of 1,000 yards in drams gives the counts, thus if 1,000 yards weighs 6 drams it is known as " 6-dram silk." This is known as the Manchester method of thrown silk counting. Another system is the number of yards per ounce, thus 25,000 organzine or tram yarn means 25,000 yards per ounce, and is that used in Yorkshire. The expression 12/14 as applied to silk yarn counts means that the yarn is not lighter than 12 denier, nor heavier than 14 denier, the average being 13

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Silk Yarn Counts

  • 15 Width

    Cotton fabrics are bought and sold in Lancashire either " actual " or " nominal " width. The trade allows the use of these two terms, and understands that " actual " means full width, whereas " nominal " means less than full width, thus 36-in. actual will measure 36-in. on the table, whereas 36-in. nominal may measure only 351/2-in. on the table.

    Dictionary of the English textile terms > Width

  • 16 Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

       The world's oldest diplomatic connection and alliance, an enduring arrangement between two very different nations and peoples, with important practical consequences in the domestic and foreign affairs of both Great Britain (England before 1707) and Portugal. The history of this remarkable alliance, which has had commercial and trade, political, foreign policy, cultural, and imperial aspects, can be outlined in part with a list of the main alliance treaties after the first treaty of commerce and friendship signed between the monarchs of England and Portugal in 1373. This was followed in 1386 by the Treaty of Windsor; then in 1654, 1661, 1703, the Methuen Treaty; and in 1810 and 1899 another treaty also signed at Windsor.
       Common interests in the defense of the nation and its overseas empire (in the case of Portugal, after 1415; in the case of England, after 1650) were partly based on characteristics and common enemies both countries shared. Even in the late Middle Ages, England and Portugal faced common enemies: large continental countries that threatened the interests and sovereignty of both, especially France and Spain. In this sense, the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance has always been a defensive alliance in which each ally would assist the other when necessary against its enemies. In the case of Portugal, that enemy invariably was Spain (or component states thereof, such as Castile and Leon) and sometimes France (i.e., when Napoleon's armies invaded and conquered Portugal as of late 1807). In the case of England, that foe was often France and sometimes Spain as well.
       Beginning in the late 14th century, England and Portugal forged this unusual relationship, formalized with several treaties that came into direct use during a series of dynastic, imperial, naval, and commercial conflicts between 1373 and 1961, the historic period when the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance had its most practical political significance. The relative world power and importance of each ally has varied over the centuries. During the period 1373-1580, the allies were similar in respective ranking in European affairs, and during the period 1480-1550, if anything, Portugal was a greater world power with a more important navy than England. During 1580-1810, Portugal fell to the status of a third-rank European power and, during 1810-1914, England was perhaps the premier world power. During 1914-61, England's world position slipped while Portugal made a slow recovery but remained a third- or fourth-rank power.
       The commercial elements of the alliance have always involved an exchange of goods between two seafaring, maritime peoples with different religions and political systems but complementary economies. The 1703 Methuen Treaty establ ished a trade link that endured for centuries and bore greater advantages for England than for Portugal, although Portugal derived benefits: English woolens for Portuguese wines, especially port, other agricultural produce, and fish. Since the signing of the Methuen Treaty, there has been a vigorous debate both in politics and in historical scholarship as to how much each nation benefited economically from the arrangement in which Portugal eventually became dependent upon England and the extent to which Portugal became a kind of economic colony of Britain during the period from 1703 to 1910.
       There is a vast literature on the Alliance, much of it in Portuguese and by Portuguese writers, which is one expression of the development of modern Portuguese nationalism. During the most active phase of the alliance, from 1650 to 1945, there is no doubt but that the core of the mutual interests of the allies amounted to the proposition that Portugal's independence as a nation in Iberia and the integrity of its overseas empire, the third largest among the colonial powers as of 1914, were defended by England, who in turn benefited from the use by the Royal Navy of Portugal's home and colonial ports in times of war and peace. A curious impact on Portuguese and popular usage had also come about and endured through the impact of dealings with the English allies. The idiom in Portuguese, "é para inglês ver," means literally "it is for the Englishman to see," but figuratively it really means, "it is merely for show."
       The practical defense side of the alliance was effectively dead by the end of World War II, but perhaps the most definitive indication of the end of the political significance of an alliance that still continues in other spheres occurred in December 1961, when the army of the Indian Union invaded Portugal's colonial enclaves in western India, Goa, Damão, and Diu. While both nations were now North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, their interests clashed when it came to imperial and Commonwealth conflicts and policies. Portugal asked Britain for military assistance in the use of British bases against the army of Britain's largest former colony, India. But Portugal was, in effect, refused assistance by her oldest ally. If the alliance continues into the 21st century, its essence is historical, nostalgic, commercial, and cultural.
        See also Catherine of Braganza.

    Historical dictionary of Portugal > Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

  • 17 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

  • 18 Marrano

       Word meaning approximately the same as converso, or Jew, who converted to Christianity, or New Christian. The origin of this term is obscure. Marrano in the Spanish language means "pig," but some scholars claim that the word comes from the Arabic and various meanings have been given to it. In older Portuguese-English dictionaries, marrano means "cursed, excommunicated, filthy." After the 1496 expulsion of those Jews who refused to convert to Christianity, certain Marranos adopted Catholicism only formally and secretly practiced a form of Judaism. Small numbers of "Crypto-Jews" or "Secret Jews" carried on such practices in remote provincial towns of Portugal, including Belmonte, Beira Alta, into the 20th century.

    Historical dictionary of Portugal > Marrano

  • 19 Spínola, Antônio de

    (1910-1996)
       Senior army general, hero of Portugal's wars of African insurgency, and first president of the provisional government after the Revolution of 25 April 1974. A career army officer who became involved in politics after a long career of war service and administration overseas, Spinola had a role in the 1974 coup and revolution that was somewhat analogous to that of General Gomes da Costa in the 1926 coup.
       Spinola served in important posts as a volunteer in Portugal's intervention in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), a military observer on the Russian front with the Third Reich's armed forces in World War II, and a top officer in the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR). His chief significance in contemporary affairs, however, came following his military assignments and tours of duty in Portugal's colonial wars in Africa after 1961.
       Spinola fought first in Angola and later in Guinea- Bissau, where, during 1968-73, he was both commanding general of Portugal's forces and high commissioner (administrator of the territory). His Guinean service tour was significant for at least two reasons: Spinola's dynamic influence upon a circle of younger career officers on his staff in Guinea, men who later joined together in the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), and Spinola's experience of failure in winning the Guinea war militarily or finding a political means for compromise or negotiation with the Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), the African insurgent movement that had fought a war with Portugal since 1963, largely in the forested tropical interior of the territory. Spinola became discouraged after failure to win permission to negotiate secretly for a political solution to the war with the PAIGC and was reprimanded by Prime Minister Marcello Caetano.
       After his return—not in triumph—from Guinea in 1973, Spinola was appointed chief of staff of the armed forces, but he resigned in a dispute with the government. With the assistance of younger officers who also had African experience of costly but seemingly endless war, Spinola wrote a book, Portugal and the Future, which was published in February 1974, despite official censorship and red tape. Next to the Bible and editions of Luís de Camoes's The Lusi- ads, Spinola's controversial book was briefly the best-selling work in Portugal's modern age. While not intimately involved with the budding conspiracy among career army majors, captains, and others, Spinola was prepared to head such a movement, and the planners depended on his famous name and position as senior army officer with the right credentials to win over both military and civil opinion when and where it counted.
       When the Revolution of 25 April 1974 succeeded, Spinola was named head of the Junta of National Salvation and eventually provisional president of Portugal. Among the military revolutionaries, though, there was wide disagreement about the precise goals of the revolution and how to achieve them. Spinola's path-breaking book had subtly proposed three new goals: the democratization of authoritarian Portugal, a political solution to the African colonial wars, and liberalization of the economic system. The MFA immediately proclaimed, not coincidentally, the same goals, but without specifying the means to attain them.
       The officers who ran the newly emerging system fell out with Spinola over many issues, but especially over how to decolonize Portugal's besieged empire. Spinola proposed a gradualist policy that featured a free referendum by all colonial voters to decide between a loose federation with Portugal or complete independence. MFA leaders wanted more or less immediate decolonization, a transfer of power to leading African movements, and a pullout of Portugal's nearly 200,000 troops in three colonies. After a series of crises and arguments, Spinola resigned as president in September 1974. He conspired for a conservative coup to oust the leftists in power, but the effort failed in March 1975, and Spinola was forced to flee to Spain and then to Brazil. Some years later, he returned to Portugal, lived in quiet retirement, and could be seen enjoying horseback riding. In the early 1980s, he was promoted to the rank of marshal, in retirement.

    Historical dictionary of Portugal > Spínola, Antônio de

  • 20 ADSL

    abbr. E-com
    asymmetrical digital subscriber line: a system that provides high speed, high bandwidth connections to the Internet. ADSL is asymmetric because it has more capacity for data received by a computer than for data to be sent from it. This uneven upload/download balance means that downloaded text and graphics appear quickly and that audiovisual elements are of better quality than when sent via a normal telephone line. ADSL was initially developed by Bellcore Labs in New Jersey in 1993 as a means of bringing bandwidth to homes and small businesses. Often it is simply called DSL.

    The ultimate business dictionary > ADSL

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  • means — [ minz ] (plural means) noun *** 1. ) count a method for doing or achieving something: WAY: Information is not easily obtained by any other means. an effective means for finding qualified job applicants means of: What means of transportation is… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • means — [miːnz] noun [plural] the money and resources that a person or organization has available: means to do something • Large corporations have the means to pay large fines without suffering hardship. • The group has limited means. • young families… …   Financial and business terms

  • means — 1. When the meaning is ‘financial resources’, means is treated as plural: Their means are somewhat limited. When the meaning is ‘a way or method’ it can operate as a singular noun (when preceded by a determiner such as a, any, or every) or as a… …   Modern English usage

  • means — [mēnz] pl.n. 〚/span> MEAN3, n.〛 1. [with sing. or pl. v.] that by which something is done or obtained; agency [the fastest means of travel] 2. resources or available wealth; often, specif., great wealth; riches [a person of …   Universalium

  • means — n pl but sing or pl in constr 1 a: something enabling one to achieve a desired end a means of self defense b: cause (1) 2: resources (as income and assets) at one s disposal Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of La …   Law dictionary

  • means — ► PLURAL NOUN (also treated as sing. ) 1) an agent or method for achieving a result. 2) financial resources; income. 3) substantial resources; wealth. ● by all means Cf. ↑by all means ● by means of Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • means — [mēnz] pl.n. [< MEAN3, n.] 1. [with sing. or pl. v.] that by which something is done or obtained; agency [the fastest means of travel] 2. resources or available wealth; often, specif., great wealth; riches [a person of means] by all means 1 …   English World dictionary

  • Means — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: John Hugh Means (1812–1862), US amerikanischer Politiker Larry Means (* 1947), US amerikanischer Politiker Natrone Means (* 1972), US amerikanischer Footballspieler Rice W. Means (1877–1949), US… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Méans — Administration Nom italien Meana di Susa Nom piémontais Méans Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Means — may refer to: Means (surname) Definitions Mean (average), a term used in mathematics and statistics Means (ethics), something of instrumental value in order to achieve an end Means (law), an aspect of a crime needed to convince a jury of guilt in …   Wikipedia

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