principal+boy+-

mother ['mʌðə(r)]

1 noun

(a) (parent) mère f;

∎ she's a good mother c'est une bonne mère;

∎ she's a mother of three elle est mère de trois enfants;

∎ mother, this is Douglas maman, je te présente Douglas;

∎ she's like a mother to me elle est comme une mère pour moi;

∎ from mother to daughter de mère en fille;

∎ on my mother's side du côté de ma mère;

∎ yes, Mother oui, mère, oui, maman;

∎ she's her mother's daughter c'est bien la fille de sa mère;

∎ mother's milk lait m maternel;

∎ British shall I be mother? c'est moi qui fais le service?;

∎ every mother's son tous sans exception;

∎ mother's little helper (helpful child) = enfant qui aide sa mère dans les tâches ménagères; figurative humorous = alcool ou médicament consommé pour oublier ses soucis;

∎ mother and toddler group réunion f de mamans

(b) (original cause, source) mère f;

∎ the Mother of parliaments le Parlement britannique (qui a servi de modèle à d'autres parlements)

(c) American very familiar (character) type m;

∎ he was a big mother c'était une véritable armoire à glace;

∎ some mother's stolen my drink il y a un enfoiré qui m'a pris mon verre;

∎ the mother's broken down again cette saloperie est encore tombée en panne

(d) familiar (large person, thing) mastodonte m;

∎ I've got a mother of a hangover j'ai une vache de gueule de bois;

∎ her boyfriend's a big mother son copain est un balaise;

∎ we had the mother and father of a row nous avons eu une de ces empoignades!

2 adjective

(a) (motherly) maternel

(b) (as parent)

∎ the mother bird feeds her young l'oiseau (femelle) nourrit ses petits

3 transitive verb

(a) (give birth to) donner naissance à

(b) (take care of) servir de mère à; (coddle) dorloter, materner;

∎ she mothers him too much elle le dorlote trop

4 Mother noun

Religion mère f;

∎ Mother superior Mère f supérieure;

∎ Mother Anna la Mère Anna;

∎ yes, Mother oui, Mère;

∎ Mother of God (Virgin Mary) Mère f de Dieu

►► mother's boy fils m à sa maman, poule f mouillée;

mother church église f mère;

mother company maison f mère;

mother country (mère) patrie f;

Mother's Day la fête des Mères;

Mother Earth la Terre;

mother figure figure f maternelle;

American Mother Goose rhyme comptine f;

mother hen mère f poule;

mother lode Mining filon m nourricier ou principal; figurative mine f;

mother love amour m maternel;

Mother Nature la Nature;

Geology mother rock roche f mère;

British humorous mother's ruin gin m;

Military mother ship ravitailleur m;

mother tongue langue f maternelle;

Chemistry mother of vinegar mère f de vinaigre;

mother wit bon sens m

office ['ɒfɪs]

1 noun

(a) (of firm) bureau m; (of solicitor) étude f; (of barrister) cabinet m; American (of doctor, dentist) cabinet m (de consultation);

∎ people who work in offices les gens qui travaillent dans les bureaux;

∎ the whole office knows tout le bureau est au courant;

∎ she's been transferred to the Paris office elle a été mutée au bureau de Paris;

∎ he's out of the office at the moment il n'est pas dans le bureau en ce moment;

∎ office space is cheaper in the suburbs les bureaux sont moins chers en banlieue;

∎ for office use only (on form) (cadre) réservé à l'administration

(b) (government department) bureau m, département m;

∎ I have to send this to the tax office je dois envoyer ça au centre des impôts

(c) (position, power) fonction f;

∎ public office fonction f publique;

∎ a woman in high office une femme haut placée;

∎ to rise to/hold high office être promu à/détenir un poste élevé;

∎ he's one of the candidates seeking office c'est l'un des candidats qui se présentent aux élections;

∎ to be in or to hold office (political party) être au pouvoir; (mayor, minister, official) être en fonction(s);

∎ to be out of office avoir quitté ses fonctions;

∎ to take office (political party) arriver au pouvoir; (mayor, minister, official) entrer en fonctions;

∎ to resign/to leave office se démettre de/quitter ses fonctions;

∎ to run for or to seek office se présenter aux élections;

∎ elected to the office of president élu à la présidence

(d) Religion office m;

∎ office for the dead office m des morts;

∎ last offices (for the dead) derniers devoirs mpl; (funeral) obsèques fpl

2 compound-forming noun

(furniture, job, staff) de bureau

3 offices plural noun

(a) (help, actions)

∎ I got the job through the (good) offices of Mrs Katz j'ai obtenu ce travail grâce aux bons offices de Mme Katz

(b) British (of large house, estate) communs mpl;

∎ the usual offices les sanitaires mpl

►► Finance office account compte m commercial;

office automation bureautique f;

British office bearer (in club, association) membre m du bureau;

British office block immeuble m de bureaux;

old-fashioned office boy garçon m de bureau;

office building immeuble m de bureaux;

office equipment matériel m de bureau;

the Office of Fair Trading = organisme britannique de défense des consommateurs et de régulation des pratiques commerciales;

office hours heures fpl de bureau;

∎ during office hours pendant les heures de bureau;

Computing office IT bureautique f;

office junior stagiaire mf (en secrétariat);

the Office of Management and Budget = service administratif américain dont le rôle principal est d'aider le président à préparer le budget;

office manager chef m de bureau;

office party = réception organisée dans un bureau à l'occasion des fêtes de fin d'année;

office space locaux mpl pour bureaux;

office staff personnel m de bureau;

office supplies articles mpl de bureau;

office work travail m de bureau;

office worker employé m de bureau

there [ðeə(r), unstressed ðə(r)]

là ⇒ 1 (a)-(d) y ⇒ 1 (a) il y a ⇒ 2

1 adverb

(a) (in or to a particular place) là, y;

∎ they aren't there ils ne sont pas là, ils n'y sont pas;

∎ we never go there nous n'y allons jamais;

∎ we're there! nous voilà arrivés!;

∎ who's there? qui est là?;

∎ is Margot there? est-ce que Margot est là?;

∎ see that woman there? that's Marlene tu vois cette femme là-bas? c'est Marlene;

∎ so there we were/I was donc, on était/j'étais là;

∎ she got there in the end (reached a place) elle a fini par arriver; (completed a task) elle a fini par y arriver;

∎ put it there mets-le là; (shake my hand) serre-moi la main;

∎ it's there on the desk c'est là sur le bureau;

∎ she just sat/stood there elle était assise/debout là;

∎ move along there, please! circulez, s'il vous plaît;

∎ we go to Paris and from there to Rome nous allons à Paris et de là à Rome;

∎ here and there çà et là;

∎ there it is le voilà;

∎ it's around there somewhere c'est quelque part par là;

∎ back there là-bas;

∎ in there là-dedans;

∎ on there là-dessus;

∎ over there là-bas;

∎ under there là-dessous;

∎ that car there cette voiture-là;

∎ those cars there ces voitures-là;

∎ your friend there votre ami;

∎ familiar figurative I've been there je suis passé par là, j'ai connu ça;

∎ familiar I've been there before non merci, j'ai déjà donné;

∎ familiar been there, done that (got the T-shirt) non merci, j'ai déjà donné

(b) (available) là;

∎ it's there if you need it c'est là si tu en as besoin;

∎ she's always been there for me elle a toujours été là quand j'avais besoin d'elle

(c) (in existence) là;

∎ I couldn't believe he was really there je n'arrivais pas à croire qu'il était vraiment là;

∎ the central problem is still there le principal problème est toujours là

(d) (on or at a particular point) là;

∎ we disagree there, there we disagree nous ne sommes pas d'accord là-dessus;

∎ there's or there lies the difficulty voilà le problème, le problème est là;

∎ there you're wrong là vous vous trompez;

∎ you're right there là vous avez raison;

∎ let's leave it there restons-en là;

∎ we'll have to stop there for today nous nous arrêterons là pour aujourd'hui;

∎ could I just stop you there? puis-je vous interrompre ici?;

∎ as for the food, I've no complaints there pour ce qui est de la nourriture, là je n'ai pas à me plaindre;

∎ familiar you've got me there! là, je ne sais pas quoi vous répondre ou dire!^□

(e) (drawing attention to someone or something)

∎ hello or hi there! salut!;

∎ hey there! hep, vous là-bas!;

∎ there they are! les voilà!;

∎ there they come les voilà (qui arrivent);

∎ there you go again! ça y est, vous recommencez!;

∎ there she goes, complaining again! voilà qu'elle recommence à se plaindre!;

∎ there's the bell, I must be going tiens ça sonne, je dois partir;

∎ ironic there's gratitude for you c'est beau la reconnaissance!;

∎ now finish your homework, there's a good boy maintenant sois un grand garçon et finis tes devoirs

(f) (idiom)

∎ he's not all or not quite there (stupid) il n'a pas toute sa tête; (senile) il n'a plus toute sa tête

2 pronoun

∎ there is (used before singular noun) il y a;

∎ there are (used before plural noun) il y a;

∎ there was/were il y avait;

∎ there will be il y aura;

∎ there is or there's a book on the table il y a un livre sur la table;

∎ there are some books on the table il y a des livres sur la table;

∎ there isn't any il n'y en a pas;

∎ there's a bus coming il y a un bus qui arrive;

∎ well, there's that girl I was telling you about before… il y a bien cette fille dont je t'ai déjà parlé…;

∎ what happens if there's a change of plan? qu'est-ce qui se passe si on change d'idée?;

∎ there must have been a mistake il a dû y avoir une erreur;

∎ there was once a king il était ou il y avait une fois un roi;

∎ there was singing and dancing on a chanté et dansé;

∎ there were some pieces missing il manquait des pièces;

∎ there weren't any more, were there? il n'en restait pas, si?;

∎ there's one slice left il reste une tranche;

∎ there are or familiar there's two slices left il reste deux tranches;

∎ there's nothing we can do to help them on ne peut rien faire pour les aider;

∎ there's no stopping her rien ne peut l'arrêter;

∎ there's no knowing what he'll do next il est impossible de prévoir ce qu'il fera ensuite;

∎ there was no denying it c'était indéniable;

∎ there now follows a party political broadcast = formule annonçant la diffusion télévisée des messages électoraux des différents partis;

∎ there comes a time when you have to slow down il arrive un moment où il faut ralentir le rythme;

∎ there still remain several points to be resolved il reste encore plusieurs problèmes à résoudre;

∎ there arose a murmur of disapproval un murmure de désapprobation s'éleva

3 exclamation

(a) (soothing)

∎ there now, don't cry! allons ou là! ne pleure pas!;

∎ there, that wasn't so bad, was it? voilà, ça n'était pas si terrible que ça, si?;

∎ there, there! allez!

(b) (aggressive)

∎ there (now), what did I say? voilà, qu'est-ce que je t'avais dit?;

∎ there, now you've made me lose count! et voilà, tu m'as fait perdre le compte!

(c) (finishing task)

∎ there (now), that's done! là! voilà qui est fait!

(d) (after all)

∎ but, there, it's not surprising mais enfin, ce n'est pas surprenant

4 so there exclamation

voilà!

5 there again adverb

après tout;

∎ but there again, no one really knows mais après tout, personne ne sait vraiment

6 there and back adverb

∎ we did the trip there and back in three hours nous avons fait l'aller retour en trois heures;

∎ it will take you about an hour/cost you about £50 there and back l'aller retour vous prendra à peu près une heure/vous coûtera environ 50 livres

7 there and then, then and there adverb

sur-le-champ;

∎ I decided there and then to have no more to do with him j'ai tout de suite décidé de ne plus avoir affaire à lui

8 there you are, there you go adverb

(a) (never mind)

∎ it wasn't the ideal solution, but there you are or go ce n'était pas l'idéal, mais enfin ou mais qu'est-ce que vous voulez

(b) (it's done)

∎ just press the button and there you are or go! vous n'avez qu'à appuyer sur le bouton et ça y est!

(c) (I told you so) voilà, ça y est

(d) (here you are) tenez, voilà

SUBJECT AREA: Telecommunications

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At the age of 15 Field left home to seek his fortune in New York, starting work on Broadway as an errand boy for $1 per week. Returning to Massachusetts, in 1838 he became an assistant to his brother Matthew, a paper-maker, leaving to set up his own business two years later. By the age of 21 he was also a partner in a New York firm of paper wholesalers, but this firm collapsed because of large debts. Out of the wreckage he set up Cyrus W.Field \& Co., and by 1852 he had paid off all the debts. With $250,000 in the bank he therefore retired and travelled in South America. Returning to the USA, he then became involved with the construction of a telegraph line in Newfoundland by an English engineer, F.N. Osborne. Although the company collapsed, he had been fired by the dream of a transatlantic cable and in 1854 was one of the founders of the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company. He began to promote surveys and hold discussions with British telegraph pioneers and with Isambard Brunel, who was then building the Great Eastern steamship. In 1856 he helped to set up the Atlantic Telegraph Company in Britain and, as a result of his efforts and those of the British physicist and inventor Sir William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), work began in 1857 on the laying of the first transatlantic cable from Newfoundland to Ireland. After many tribulations the cable was completed on 5 August 1857, but it failed after barely a month. Following several unsuccessful attempts to repair and replace it, the cable was finally completed on 27 July 1866. Building upon his success, Field expanded his business interests. In 1877 he bought a controlling interest in and was President of the New York Elevated Railroad Company. He also helped develop the Wabash Railroad and became owner of the New York Mail and Express newspaper; however, he subsequently suffered large financial losses.

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SUBJECT AREA: Broadcasting, Electricity, Electronics and information technology, Telecommunications

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As a young man, Kennelly worked as office boy for a London engineering society, as an electrician and on a cable-laying ship. In 1887 he went to work for Thomas Edison at West Orange, New Jersey, USA, becoming his chief assistant. In 1894, with Edwin J.Houston, he formed the Philadelphia company of Houston and Kennelly, but eight years later he took up the Chair of Electrical Engineering at Harvard, a post he held until his retirement in 1930. In 1902 he noticed that the radio signals received by Marconi in Nova Scotia from the transmitter in England were stronger than predicted and postulated a reflecting ionized layer in the upper atmosphere. Almost simultaneously the same prediction was made in England by Heaviside, so the layer became known as the Kennelly-Heaviside layer. Throughout most of his working life Kennelly was concerned with the application of mathematical techniques, particularly the use of complex theory, to the analysis of electrical circuits. With others he also contributed to an understanding of the high-frequency skin-effect in conductors.

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SUBJECT AREA: Aerospace

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As a boy, Paul MacCready was an enthusiastic builder of flying model aeroplanes; he became US National Junior Champion in 1941. He learned to fly and became a pilot with the US Navy in 1943. he developed an interest in gliding in 1945 and became National Soaring Champion in 1948 and 1949. After graduating from the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) as a meteorologist, he set up Meteorological Research Inc. In 1953 MacCready became the first American to win the World Gliding Championship. When hang-gliders became popular in the early 1970s MacCready studied their performance and compared them with soaring birds: he came to the conclusion that man-powered flight was a possibility. In an effort to generate an interest in man-powered flight, a cash prize had been offered in Britain by Henry Kremer, a wealthy industrialist and fitness enthusiast. A man-powered aircraft had to complete a one-mile (1.6km) figure-of-eight course in order to win. However, the figure-of-eight proved to be a major obstacle and the prize money was increased over the years to £50,000. In 1976 MacCready and his friend Dr Peter Lissaman set to work on their computer and came up with their optimum design for a man-powered aircraft. The Gossamer Condor had a wing span of 96 ft (27.4 m), about the same as a Douglas DC-9 airliner, yet it weighed just 70 lb (32 kg). It was a tail-first design with a pedaldriven pusher propeller just behind the pilot. Bryan Allen, a biologist, pilot and racing cyclist, joined the team to provide the muscle-power. After over two hundred flights they were ready to make an attempt on the prize, and on 23 August 1977 they succeeded where many had failed, in 7 minutes. Kremer then offered £100,000 for the first manpowered flight across the English Channel. Many thought this would be impossible, but MacCready and his team set about the task of designing a new machine based on their Condor, which they called the Gossamer Albatross. Bryan Allen also had a major task: getting fit for a flight which might take three hours of pedalling. The weather was more of a problem than in California, and after a long delay the Gossamer Albatross took off, on 12 June 1979. After pedalling for 2 hours 49 minutes, Bryan Allen landed in France: it was seventy years since Blériot's flight, although Blériot was much quicker.

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SUBJECT AREA: Canals, Civil engineering

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Born into a prosperous farming family, he early demonstrated his natural mechanical and structural aptitude. As a boy he spent a great deal of time, often as a truant, near his home in the workshop of Andrew Meikle. Meikle was a millwright and the inventor of a threshing machine. After local education and an apprenticeship with Meikle, Rennie went to Edinburgh University until he was 22. He then travelled south and met James Watt, who in 1784 offered him the post of Engineer at the Albion Flour Mills, London, which was then under construction. Rennie designed all the mill machinery, and it was while there that he began to develop an interest in canals, opening his own business in 1791 in Blackfriars. He carried out work on the Kennet and Avon Canal and in 1794 became Engineer for the company. He meanwhile carried out other surveys, including a proposed extension of the River Stort Navigation to the Little Ouse and a Basingstoke-to-Salisbury canal, neither of which were built. From 1791 he was also engaged on the Rochdale Canal and the Lancaster Canal, as well as the great masonry aqueduct carrying the latter canal across the river Lune at Lancaster. He also surveyed the Ipswich and Stowmarket and the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigations. He advised on the Horncastle Canal in 1799 and on the River Ancholme in 1799, both of which are in Lincolnshire. In 1802 he was engaged on the Royal Canal in Ireland, and in the same year he was commissioned by the Government to prepare a plan for flooding the Lea Valley as a defence on the eastern approach to London in case Napoleon invaded England across the Essex marshes. In 1809 he surveyed improvements on the Thames, and in the following year he was involved in a proposed canal from Taunton to Bristol. Some of his schemes, particularly in the Fens and Lincolnshire, were a combination of improvements for both drainage and navigation. Apart from his canal work he engaged extensively in the construction and development of docks and harbours including the East and West India Docks in London, Holyhead, Hull, Ramsgate and the dockyards at Chatham and Sheerness. In 1806 he proposed the great breakwater at Plymouth, where work commenced on 22 June 1811.

He was also highly regarded for his bridge construction. These included Kelso and Musselburgh, as well as his famous Thames bridges: London Bridge (uncompleted at the time of his death), Waterloo Bridge (1810–17) and Southwark Bridge (1815–19). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1798.

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SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Steam and internal combustion engines

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As a boy, Smeaton showed mechanical ability, making for himself a number of tools and models. This practical skill was backed by a sound education, probably at Leeds Grammar School. At the age of 16 he entered his father's office; he seemed set to follow his father's profession in the law. In 1742 he went to London to continue his legal studies, but he preferred instead, with his father's reluctant permission, to set up as a scientific instrument maker and dealer and opened a shop of his own in 1748. About this time he began attending meetings of the Royal Society and presented several papers on instruments and mechanical subjects, being elected a Fellow in 1753. His interests were turning towards engineering but were informed by scientific principles grounded in careful and accurate observation.

In 1755 the second Eddystone lighthouse, on a reef some 14 miles (23 km) off the English coast at Plymouth, was destroyed by fire. The President of the Royal Society was consulted as to a suitable engineer to undertake the task of constructing a new one, and he unhesitatingly suggested Smeaton. Work began in 1756 and was completed in three years to produce the first great wave-swept stone lighthouse. It was constructed of Portland stone blocks, shaped and pegged both together and to the base rock, and bonded by hydraulic cement, scientifically developed by Smeaton. It withstood the storms of the English Channel for over a century, but by 1876 erosion of the rock had weakened the structure and a replacement had to be built. The upper portion of Smeaton's lighthouse was re-erected on a suitable base on Plymouth Hoe, leaving the original base portion on the reef as a memorial to the engineer.

The Eddystone lighthouse made Smeaton's reputation and from then on he was constantly in demand as a consultant in all kinds of engineering projects. He carried out a number himself, notably the 38 mile (61 km) long Forth and Clyde canal with thirty-nine locks, begun in 1768 but for financial reasons not completed until 1790. In 1774 he took charge of the Ramsgate Harbour works.

On the mechanical side, Smeaton undertook a systematic study of water-and windmills, to determine the design and construction to achieve the greatest power output. This work issued forth as the paper "An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills" and exerted a considerable influence on mill design during the early part of the Industrial Revolution. Between 1753 and 1790 Smeaton constructed no fewer than forty-four mills.

Meanwhile, in 1756 he had returned to Austhorpe, which continued to be his home base for the rest of his life. In 1767, as a result of the disappointing performance of an engine he had been involved with at New River Head, Islington, London, Smeaton began his important study of the steam-engine. Smeaton was the first to apply scientific principles to the steam-engine and achieved the most notable improvements in its efficiency since its invention by Newcomen, until its radical overhaul by James Watt. To compare the performance of engines quantitatively, he introduced the concept of "duty", i.e. the weight of water that could be raised 1 ft (30 cm) while burning one bushel (84 lb or 38 kg) of coal. The first engine to embody his improvements was erected at Long Benton colliery in Northumberland in 1772, with a duty of 9.45 million pounds, compared to the best figure obtained previously of 7.44 million pounds. One source of heat loss he attributed to inaccurate boring of the cylinder, which he was able to improve through his close association with Carron Ironworks near Falkirk, Scotland.

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SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping

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Smith was the only son of Charles Smith, Postmaster at Hythe, and his wife Sarah (née Pettit). After education at a private school in Ashford, Kent, he took to farming, first on Romney Marsh, then at Hendon, Middlesex. As a boy, he showed much skill in the construction of model boats, especially in devising their means of propulsion. He maintained this interest into adult life and in 1835 he made a model propelled by a screw driven by a spring. This worked so well that he became convinced that the screw propeller offered a better method of propulsion than the paddle wheels that were then in general use. This notion so fired his enthusiasm that he virtually gave up farming to devote himself to perfecting his invention. The following year he produced a better model, which he successfully demonstrated to friends on his farm at Hendon and afterwards to the public at the Adelaide Gallery in London. On 31 May 1836 Smith was granted a patent for the propulsion of vessels by means of a screw.

The idea of screw propulsion was not new, however, for it had been mooted as early as the seventeenth century and since then several proposals had been advanced, but without successful practical application. Indeed, simultaneously but quite independently of Smith, the Swedish engineer John Ericsson had invented the ship's propeller and obtained a patent on 13 July 1836, just weeks after Smith. But Smith was completely unaware of this and pursued his own device in the belief that he was the sole inventor.

With some financial and technical backing, Smith was able to construct a 10 ton boat driven by a screw and powered by a steam engine of about 6 hp (4.5 kW). After showing it off to the public, Smith tried it out at sea, from Ramsgate round to Dover and Hythe, returning in stormy weather. The screw performed well in both calm and rough water. The engineering world seemed opposed to the new method of propulsion, but the Admiralty gave cautious encouragement in 1839 by ordering that the 237 ton Archimedes be equipped with a screw. It showed itself superior to the Vulcan, one of the fastest paddle-driven ships in the Navy. The ship was put through its paces in several ports, including Bristol, where Isambard Kingdom Brunel was constructing his Great Britain, the first large iron ocean-going vessel. Brunel was so impressed that he adapted his ship for screw propulsion.

Meanwhile, in spite of favourable reports, the Admiralty were dragging their feet and ordered further trials, fitting Smith's four-bladed propeller to the Rattler, then under construction and completed in 1844. The trials were a complete success and propelled their lordships of the Admiralty to a decision to equip twenty ships with screw propulsion, under Smith's supervision.

At last the superiority of screw propulsion was generally accepted and virtually universally adopted. Yet Smith gained little financial reward for his invention and in 1850 he retired to Guernsey to resume his farming life. In 1860 financial pressures compelled him to accept the position of Curator of Patent Models at the Patent Museum in South Kensington, London, a post he held until his death. Belated recognition by the Government, then headed by Lord Palmerston, came in 1855 with the grant of an annual pension of £200. Two years later Smith received unofficial recognition when he was presented with a national testimonial, consisting of a service of plate and nearly £3,000 in cash subscribed largely by the shipbuilding and engineering community. Finally, in 1871 Smith was honoured with a knighthood.

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SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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Robert Stephenson's father was George Stephenson, who ensured that his son was educated to obtain the theoretical knowledge he lacked himself. In 1821 Robert Stephenson assisted his father in his survey of the Stockton \& Darlington Railway and in 1822 he assisted William James in the first survey of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway. He then went to Edinburgh University for six months, and the following year Robert Stephenson \& Co. was named after him as Managing Partner when it was formed by himself, his father and others. The firm was to build stationary engines, locomotives and railway rolling stock; in its early years it also built paper-making machinery and did general engineering.

In 1824, however, Robert Stephenson accepted, perhaps in reaction to an excess of parental control, an invitation by a group of London speculators called the Colombian Mining Association to lead an expedition to South America to use steam power to reopen gold and silver mines. He subsequently visited North America before returning to England in 1827 to rejoin his father as an equal and again take charge of Robert Stephenson \& Co. There he set about altering the design of steam locomotives to improve both their riding and their steam-generating capacity. Lancashire Witch, completed in July 1828, was the first locomotive mounted on steel springs and had twin furnace tubes through the boiler to produce a large heating surface. Later that year Robert Stephenson \& Co. supplied the Stockton \& Darlington Railway with a wagon, mounted for the first time on springs and with outside bearings. It was to be the prototype of the standard British railway wagon. Between April and September 1829 Robert Stephenson built, not without difficulty, a multi-tubular boiler, as suggested by Henry Booth to George Stephenson, and incorporated it into the locomotive Rocket which the three men entered in the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway's Rainhill Trials in October. Rocket, was outstandingly successful and demonstrated that the long-distance steam railway was practicable.

Robert Stephenson continued to develop the locomotive. Northumbrian, built in 1830, had for the first time, a smokebox at the front of the boiler and also the firebox built integrally with the rear of the boiler. Then in Planet, built later the same year, he adopted a layout for the working parts used earlier by steam road-coach pioneer Goldsworthy Gurney, placing the cylinders, for the first time, in a nearly horizontal position beneath the smokebox, with the connecting rods driving a cranked axle. He had evolved the definitive form for the steam locomotive.

Also in 1830, Robert Stephenson surveyed the London \& Birmingham Railway, which was authorized by Act of Parliament in 1833. Stephenson became Engineer for construction of the 112-mile (180 km) railway, probably at that date the greatest task ever undertaken in of civil engineering. In this he was greatly assisted by G.P.Bidder, who as a child prodigy had been known as "The Calculating Boy", and the two men were to be associated in many subsequent projects. On the London \& Birmingham Railway there were long and deep cuttings to be excavated and difficult tunnels to be bored, notoriously at Kilsby. The line was opened in 1838.

In 1837 Stephenson provided facilities for W.F. Cooke to make an experimental electrictelegraph installation at London Euston. The directors of the London \& Birmingham Railway company, however, did not accept his recommendation that they should adopt the electric telegraph and it was left to I.K. Brunel to instigate the first permanent installation, alongside the Great Western Railway. After Cooke formed the Electric Telegraph Company, Stephenson became a shareholder and was Chairman during 1857–8.

Earlier, in the 1830s, Robert Stephenson assisted his father in advising on railways in Belgium and came to be increasingly in demand as a consultant. In 1840, however, he was almost ruined financially as a result of the collapse of the Stanhope \& Tyne Rail Road; in return for acting as Engineer-in-Chief he had unwisely accepted shares, with unlimited liability, instead of a fee.

During the late 1840s Stephenson's greatest achievements were the design and construction of four great bridges, as part of railways for which he was responsible. The High Level Bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle and the Royal Border Bridge over the Tweed at Berwick were the links needed to complete the East Coast Route from London to Scotland. For the Chester \& Holyhead Railway to cross the Menai Strait, a bridge with spans as long-as 460 ft (140 m) was needed: Stephenson designed them as wrought-iron tubes of rectangular cross-section, through which the trains would pass, and eventually joined the spans together into a tube 1,511 ft (460 m) long from shore to shore. Extensive testing was done beforehand by shipbuilder William Fairbairn to prove the method, and as a preliminary it was first used for a 400 ft (122 m) span bridge at Conway.

In 1847 Robert Stephenson was elected MP for Whitby, a position he held until his death, and he was one of the exhibition commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1851. In the early 1850s he was Engineer-in-Chief for the Norwegian Trunk Railway, the first railway in Norway, and he also built the Alexandria \& Cairo Railway, the first railway in Africa. This included two tubular bridges with the railway running on top of the tubes. The railway was extended to Suez in 1858 and for several years provided a link in the route from Britain to India, until superseded by the Suez Canal, which Stephenson had opposed in Parliament. The greatest of all his tubular bridges was the Victoria Bridge across the River St Lawrence at Montreal: after inspecting the site in 1852 he was appointed Engineer-in-Chief for the bridge, which was 1 1/2 miles (2 km) long and was designed in his London offices. Sadly he, like Brunel, died young from self-imposed overwork, before the bridge was completed in 1859.

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See also: Pihl, Carl Abraham; Seguin, Marc