steered by the land

1 to direct.

mi ventana está orientada hacia el sur my window faces south o is south-facing

2 to give advice or guidance to.

3 to guide, to direct, to show the way, to give a direction.

* * *

► verbo transitivo

1 (casa) to face; (antena, barco) to point; (velas) to trim

■ la casa está orientada al mar the house faces the sea

■ orientaron la barca hacia la costa they pointed the boat towards the coast

2 (esfuerzos, investigaciones) to direct

3 (guiar) to guide; (aconsejar) to advise

■ el examen nos orientó de cómo ibamos the exam gave us an idea of how we were getting on

► verbo pronominal orientarse

1 to find one's bearings

■ nos orientamos por las estrellas we were guided by the stars

■ yo me oriento muy mal I have an appalling sense of direction

■ todavía no me he orientado en este trabajo I haven't learnt the ropes yet

* * *

1) to guide

2) orient

* * *

1. VT

1) (=situar)

2) (=enfocar) to direct

3) (=guiar) to guide

4) (Náut) [+ vela] to trim

orientarse

* * *

verbo transitivo

1)

a) < reflector> to position

b) < edificio>

c) (Náut) < velas> to trim

2) ( encaminar)

3) < personas> faro/estrellas to guide; profesor/amigo to advise

orientarse v pron

1) ( ubicarse) to get one's bearings, orient oneself

2)

a) ( girar)

b) ( inclinarse)

c) ( informarse) to get information

* * *

= gear (to/toward(s)/for), orient, orientate, give + advice on, guide, give + direction, angle, lend + direction, put + Nombre + on the right track, point + Nombre + in the right direction.

Ex. Most of the main subject headings lists are geared to the alphabetical subject approach found in dictionary catalogues.

Ex. Supermarket hosts have their own specialised, and often unique command languages, and have been oriented to specialist searchers.

Ex. In this category the majority of programmes were found to be orientated towards information systems for business and management.

Ex. She also gives valuable advice on distinguishing between the Lost Sheep and Confidence Personified.

Ex. You can press F2 key at this point to take advantage of menus that will guide you through Command Search.

Ex. To give direction to these physical resources, there are objectives for the project and a framework timetable.

Ex. This publication seems to find particular favour in law firms, possibly because of its currency and the way it is angled towards the commercial world.

Ex. Policies are guidelines that lend direction to planning and decision-making.

Ex. The most natural way out is to ask the enquirer: usually he will know, or at least will be able to put the librarian on the right track.

Ex. These metaphors point us in the right direction and set us off on a discussion of fiction as a symbolic structure that is to life what metaphors are to reality.

----

* encargado de orientar al lector = readers' adviser.

* orientarse = get + Posesivo + bearings.

* orientar un servicio hacia = target + service.

* * *

verbo transitivo

1)

a) < reflector> to position

b) < edificio>

c) (Náut) < velas> to trim

2) ( encaminar)

3) < personas> faro/estrellas to guide; profesor/amigo to advise

orientarse v pron

1) ( ubicarse) to get one's bearings, orient oneself

2)

a) ( girar)

b) ( inclinarse)

c) ( informarse) to get information

* * *

* * *

orientar [A1 ]

1 ‹antena/reflector› orientar algo HACIA/A algo:

oriente la antena al este or hacia el este position/turn the antenna ( AmE) o ( BrE) aerial to face east

orientó el avión hacia el sur he headed the plane south

2 ‹edificio›

decidieron orientarlo hacia el sur they decided to build it facing south

la casa está orientada al sur or hacia el sur the house faces south o is south-facing, the house has a southern aspect ( frml)

3 ( Náut) ‹velas› to trim

(encaminar): orientemos nuestros esfuerzos hacia la consecución de este objetivo let us direct our efforts toward the achievement of this goal

una política orientada a combatir la inflación a policy designed to fight inflation o directed at fighting inflation

C (guiar) ‹persona›

1 «faro/estrellas» to guide

2 «profesor/amigo» to advise

orientar a los jóvenes en la elección de una carrera to give young people guidance on their choice of a career

A (ubicarse) to get one's bearings, orient oneself, orientate oneself ( BrE); (no perderse) to find one's way around

los antiguos navegantes se orientaban por las estrellas in ancient times sailors steered by the stars

(girar): plantas que se orientan hacia el sol plantas that turn toward(s) the sun

(inclinarse): las tres hermanas se orientaron hacia las ciencias the three sisters went in for o opted for science

3 ( caus) (informarse) to get information

* * *

a) ‹reflector/antena› to position;

◊ la casa está orientada al sur the house faces south (frml)

b) (Náut) ‹ velas› to trim

a) [faro/estrellas] to guide

b) ( aconsejar) to advise;

◊ una mujer nos orientó a woman told us the way

◊ orientarse por las estrellas (Náut) to steer by the stars

* * *

♦ vt

1. [dar una posición] to direct;

hay que orientar el foco hacia abajo the spotlight needs to be pointed downwards;

orientó la popa hacia el este he pointed the stern eastwards;

mi ventana está orientada hacia el sur my window faces south o is south-facing

2. [indicar una dirección] to guide;

un lugareño les orientó a local pointed them in the right direction

3. [aconsejar] to give advice o guidance to;

necesito que me orienten sobre el mejor modelo I need some advice about the best model

4. [enfocar]

orientaron las medidas a reducir la inflación the measures were aimed at reducing inflation;

orientó sus investigaciones hacia la biogenética he focused his research on biogenetics

♦ See also the pronominal verb orientarse

* * *

1 ( aconsejar) advise

orientar algo hacia algo turn sth toward sth

* * *

orientar vt

1) : to orient, to position

2) : to guide, to direct

♦ See also the reflexive verb orientarse

* * *

orientar vb

1. (telescopio, antena) to point

2. (guiar a una persona) to direct / to guide

3. (aconsejar a una persona) to advise

1 to avoid, to prevent (impedir) (desastre, accidente).

podría haberse evitado esta catástrofe this disaster could have been avoided o prevented

evitar que alguien haga algo to stop o prevent somebody from doing something

Ricardo previno el accidente Richard prevented the accident.

María se guarda de decir mentiras Mary takes care not to tell lies.

2 to avoid (eludir) (cuestión, persona).

no puede evitarlo he can't help it

Javier siempre evita encontrarse conmigo Javier always avoids meeting me

3 to save.

esto me evita tener que ir this saves me (from) having to go

* * *

► verbo transitivo

1 (gen) to avoid

■ evitó una confrontación he avoided a confrontation

2 (impedir) to prevent, avoid

■ no pudo evitar que lo hiciera he couldn't prevent him (from) doing it

3 (ahorrar) to spare, save

■ intenté evitarle la molestia I tried to save him the trouble

* * *

1) to avoid

2) prevent

* * *

1. VT

1) (=eludir) to avoid

2) (=ahorrar) to save

evitarse

* * *

verbo transitivo

a) (eludir, huir de) to avoid

b) ( impedir) to avoid, prevent

c) ( ahorrar)

evitarse v pron < problemas> to save oneself

* * *

= avoid, bypass [by-pass], eschew, guard against, impede, prevent, shy away from, deflect, forestall, avert, preempt [pre-empt], shun, be shy of + Gerundio, sidestep [side-step], steer + clear of, steer away from, get (a)round, shy from, stay away from, stave off, baulk [balk, -USA], hamstring, ward off, head off, skirt, give + Nombre + a wide berth.

Ex. This situation requires a very skilled information worker if total disaster is to be avoided.

Ex. She repeatedly bypassed the catalog because she was an inveterate fiction reader and approached the A section of the fiction shelf expecting to find Sholom Aleichem under ALEICHEM.

Ex. However, most contributors to the debate about the future of SLIS have eschewed practicalities in favour of sweeping and dramatic generalizations.

Ex. The system will ask you to enter the new password a second time to help guard against keying errors.

Ex. In early 1984 we were invited to undertake a survey of the fourteen schools of librarianship and information studies in England and Wales, giving particular attention to the constraints impeding or preventing desirable change.

Ex. To prevent an entry under the first name(s), these must be entered on a separate line with the subfield code 'j'.

Ex. Those who conscientiously attempt to keep abreast of current thought might well shy away from an examination calculated to show how much of the previous month's efforts could be produced on call.

Ex. Questions such as 'Can I help you?' on the part of the librarian are easily deflected by a hasty, perhaps automatic and ill-considered, 'Oh, no thanks' by the user.

Ex. In order to forestall such an event, some libraries in Britain were stung into action by the publication of an Act of Parliament which totally ignored public libraries.

Ex. He often did this, almost unconsciously, to avert an immediate sign of reaction to an irksome confrontation.

Ex. This article concludes that the main value of the indicators is as a management tool, as a means of preempting problems.

Ex. Traditionally these books have been shunned because of their fragile nature, but librarians are finding that a small collection can enliven story times.

Ex. Printers or publishers were sometimes shy of giving their real names -- usually because a book was treasonable, or libellous, or a piracy -- and for similar reasons they might give a false place of publication and a false date.

Ex. This article discusses how to start projects on the right footing by defining objectives and planning properly to help sidestep pitfalls which can be associated with bespoke software development.

Ex. This entire target market has steered clear of the public library.

Ex. This article gives guidance for steering away from some of the more obvious pitfalls when buying software.

Ex. The view of most users is that they can get around the restriction in a number of ways.

Ex. I have not shied from identifying some of the obstacles to achieving this vision.

Ex. This, again, is an area most libraries -- at least the ones I'm familiar with -- have tended to stay away from.

Ex. They resorted to exercising to stave off unwanted weight gain believed to be caused by alcohol use.

Ex. While many scholars concede that military interventions are sometimes permissible, they balk when it comes to deciding whether they are ever a moral duty.

Ex. Instead, the proposed regulations would hamstring public access.

Ex. The most strenuous efforts will not always ensure success, nor the boldest arm of human power ward off the stroke of misfortune.

Ex. And this stimulus is working in the sense that it has headed off the imminent risk of a deflationary spiral.

Ex. Bridleways that cross arable land may be legally ploughed up, but not those that skirt a field.

Ex. Under the new law, motorists must give 'a wide berth' to stationary emergency vehicles displaying blue, red, or amber emergency warning lights.

----

* acto de evitar = avoidance.

* agacharse para evitar = duck out of + harm's way.

* el evitar = avoidance.

* evitar discutir una cuestión = circumvent + issue.

* evitar el desastre = ward off + disaster.

* evitar el encuentro con = steer + clear of, give + Nombre + a wide berth, steer away from.

* evitar el enfrentamiento = avoid + confrontation.

* evitar el mal = shun + evil.

* evitar la confrontación = avoid + confrontation.

* evitar la fama = shun + the public eye, keep out of + the public eye.

* evitar la publicidad = shun + the public eye, keep out of + the public eye.

* evitar + Nombre = get (a)round + Nombre.

* evitar polémicas = eschew + issues.

* evitar problemas = stay out of + trouble.

* evitar que = keep from.

* evitar que + entrar = keep + Nombre + out.

* evitar que + escapar = keep + Nombre + in.

* evitar que + Nombre + Subjuntivo = save + Nombre + from + Gerundio.

* evitar que + salir = keep + Nombre + in.

* evitar ser afectado = escape + unaffected.

* evitar temas delicados = eschew + issues.

* evitar una cuestión = skirt + issue, tiptoe around + issue.

* evitar una infección = prevent + infection.

* evitar un error = avoid + error.

* evitar un problema = avoid + problem.

* evitar un riesgo = duck + risk.

* evitar un tema = skirt + issue, tiptoe around + issue.

* forma de evitar Algo = way round + Algo.

* forma de evitar una dificultad = way (a)round + difficulty.

* forma de evitar un problema = way round + problem.

* intentar evitar = fight + shy of.

* lo que hay que hacer y lo que hay que evitar = do's and don'ts, rights and wrongs.

* no poder evitar + Infinitivo = cannot help + Gerundio, cannot help but + Verbo.

* no poder evitar mencionar = cannot but notice.

* no pude evitar notar que = couldn't help but notice (that).

* para evitar su uso indebido por los niños = childproof.

* proteger Algo para evitar su uso indebido por los niños = childproof.

* * *

verbo transitivo

a) (eludir, huir de) to avoid

b) ( impedir) to avoid, prevent

c) ( ahorrar)

evitarse v pron < problemas> to save oneself

* * *

* * *

evitar [A1 ]

1 (eludir, huir de) to avoid

evita entrar en discusiones con él avoid getting into arguments with him

para evitar problemas decidí no ir to avoid problems I decided not to go

¿por qué me estás evitando? why are you avoiding me?

2 (impedir) to avoid, prevent

se podría haber evitado la tragedia the tragedy could have been avoided o averted o prevented

haremos lo posible para evitarlo we'll do everything we can to avoid o prevent it

para evitar que sufran to avoid o prevent them suffering

3 (ahorrar) to save

una simple llamada nos habría evitado muchas molestias a simple phone call would have saved us a lot of trouble

así les evitarás muchos quebraderos de cabeza that way you'll save them a lot of worry

por esta ruta evitas tener que pasar por el centro if you go this way you avoid going through o it saves you going through the center

‹problemas› to save oneself

evítese la molestia de ir a la tienda avoid the inconvenience of going to the store

si aceptas, te evitarás muchos problemas if you accept, you'll save yourself a lot of problems

me evitaría tener que pintarlo it would save me having to paint it

* * *

a) (eludir, huir de) to avoid;

◊ evitar hacer algo to avoid doing sth

b) ( impedir) to avoid, prevent;

◊ para evitar que sufran to avoid o prevent them suffering

c) ( remediar):

◊ me puse a llorar, no lo puede evitar I started to cry, I couldn't help it

d) ( ahorrar) evitarle algo a algn ‹molestia/preocupación› to save o spare sb sth

◊ evítese la molestia de ir a la tienda avoid the inconvenience of going to the store

* * *

♦ vt

1. [impedir] [desastre, accidente] to avoid, to prevent;

¿podría haberse evitado esta catástrofe ecológica? could this environmental disaster have been avoided o prevented?;

evitar que alguien haga algo to stop o prevent sb from doing sth;

no pude evitar que se pelearan I couldn't stop o prevent them from having a fight;

hemos de evitar que se extienda el incendio we have to stop the fire spreading

2. [eludir] [problema, cuestión, persona] to avoid;

siempre me está evitando she's always trying to avoid me;

Javier siempre evita encontrarse conmigo Javier always avoids meeting me;

yo evité hablar del tema I kept o steered clear of the subject;

no puede evitarlo he can't help it;

no puedo evitar ser como soy I can't help (being) the way I am

3. [ahorrar] to save;

esta máquina nos evitaría mucho trabajo this machine would save us a lot of work;

esto me evita tener que ir this gets me out of going, this saves me (from) having to go

♦ See also the pronominal verb evitarse

* * *

1 avoid;

no puedo evitarlo I can’t help it

2 ( impedir) prevent

3 molestias save

* * *

evitar vt

1) : to avoid

2) prevenir: to prevent

3) eludir: to escape, to elude

* * *

evitar vb

1. (en general) to avoid

2. (impedir) to prevent

3. (ahorrar) to save

1 to avoid.

2 to dodge, to evade, to duck, to fend off.

Luis capeó el problema Louis dodged the problem.

* * *

► verbo transitivo

1 (persona) to avoid, shun

2 (golpe) to dodge, elude

* * *

1) to dodge

2) avoid

* * *

VT (=evitar) to avoid, shun; (=evadir) to dodge, side-step

esquivarse

* * *

verbo transitivo < persona> to avoid; <golpe/pregunta> to dodge, evade; <problema/dificultad> to avoid; < responsabilidad> to avoid, evade

* * *

= dodge, eschew, skate over, parry, skirt, fend off, steer + clear of, give + Nombre + a wide berth, steer away from.

Ex. But he was wiry and wily, too, and he could often out-run, track, back-track, double-back, and finally dodge unseen in the subway.

Ex. However, most contributors to the debate about the future of SLIS have eschewed practicalities in favour of sweeping and dramatic generalizations.

Ex. I'm sorry; I didn't wish to skate over that.

Ex. 'What if we got the other departments to pay for their own services and materials?' she parried, seeing a faint ray of hope in the idea.

Ex. Bridleways that cross arable land may be legally ploughed up, but not those that skirt a field.

Ex. During the rutting season, they are used to fend off other males in an attempt to gather a harem of females to breed with.

Ex. This entire target market has steered clear of the public library.

Ex. Under the new law, motorists must give 'a wide berth' to stationary emergency vehicles displaying blue, red, or amber emergency warning lights.

Ex. This article gives guidance for steering away from some of the more obvious pitfalls when buying software.

----

* esquivar el problema = sidestep + the problem.

* esquivar la cuestión = sidestep + the issue.

* esquivar la mirada de Alguien = avert + Posesivo + eyes.

* esquivar una cuestión = dodge + issue.

* esquivar un problema = duck + issue.

* * *

verbo transitivo < persona> to avoid; <golpe/pregunta> to dodge, evade; <problema/dificultad> to avoid; < responsabilidad> to avoid, evade

* * *

* * *

esquivar [A1 ]

1 ‹persona› to avoid

2 ‹golpe› to dodge, evade; ‹pregunta› to avoid, dodge, sidestep

intentaron esquivar el tema they tried to dodge o evade the issue

3 ‹problema/dificultad› to avoid; ‹responsabilidad› to avoid, evade

* * *

* * *

esquivar vt

1. [golpe] to dodge;

trató de esquivar al perro para no atropellarlo he tried to avoid the dog so as not to knock it down

2. [persona, discusión, tema] to avoid;

* * *

v/t avoid, dodge fam

* * *

esquivar vt

1) evadir: to dodge, to evade

2) evitar: to avoid

* * *

esquivar vb

1. (golpe) to dodge

2. (persona) to avoid

* * *

f. bait, esp. for fish.

(-tta, -ttr), v.

1) to ‘cause to bite’, graze, with the animals in dat. (beita nautum), the pasture in acc. (beita haga, land, engi);

absol. to pasture cattle (beita í skógi);

beita upp land, to exhaust by grazing;

beita upp ( to consume) engjum ok heyjum;

2) to handle, use a weapon (beita sverði);

3) to hunt or chase (with dogs or hawks);

beita e-n hundum, to set dogs on one;

4) fig., beita e-n brögðum, úlögum, illu, to deal cunningly, unlawfully, badly with one;

recipr., við höfum opt brögðum beizt, schemed against each other;

5) to harness (a horse, &c.) to a vehicle (beita hest fyrir vagn);

beittu enn blakka mar, saddle thy black steed;

fig., beita e-n fyrir e-t, to put one at the head of;

refl., beitast fyrir e-t or e-u, to lead the cause;

6) to furnish (a vehicle) with horses (vagn at beita);

7) to steer or sail near the wind, to cruise (beita þeir í brot, frá landinu);

fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland, they weathered S.

* * *

tt, [v. bita, beit, mordere], prop. mordere facere.

I. to graze, feed sheep and cattle; the animals in dat., b. svínum, Grág. ii. 231; nautum, Eg. 721: the pasture in acc., b. haga, Grág. ii. 224, 225; engi, 228; afrétt, 302, 329; land, 329, Eg. 721: absol., Grág. ii. 249: with ‘í’ and dat., b. í skógi, 299: ‘í’ with acc., b. svínum í land annars manns, 231: b. upp land (acc.), to spoil the pasture by grazing, lay it bare; beittust þá upp allar engjar, Eg. 712: with dat., b. upp ( to consume) engjum ok heyjum, Fms. vi. 104.

II. to handle, manage a (cutting) instrument; with dat., b. skutli, a harpoon, Fbr. 144; sverði, a sword, Fms. viii. 96, xi. 270; vápnum, 289.

III. a nautical term, to cruise, prop. to let the ship ‘bite’ the wind; undu þeir segl sin ok beittu út at Njcirvasundum allfagran byr, Orkn. 356; beita þeir í brott frá landinu, Ld. 76; fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland, they sailed round, weathered S., Eg. 405; beittu þá sem þverast austr fyrir landit, 161; b. undir veðrit, to tack, Vb. i. 511; b. í haf út, Orkn. 402: metaph., varð jafnan þeirra hlutr betri, er til hans hnigu, en hinna, er frá beittu, who steered away from him, Fms. viii. 47.

IV. a hunting term, to hunt (cp. beiða), the deer in acc., the dogs or hawks in dat.; b. e-n hundum, to set hounds on him; konungr sagði at hann skyldi afklæða, ok b. hundum til bana, Fms. ii. 173, x. 326; beita haukum, to chase with hawks, Fas. 1. 175: to chase, svá beitum vér björnuna, Hkr. ii. 369 MS. B, vide bauta; hann … hafði beitt fimm trönur, he had caught five cranes, Fagrsk. 77, where Hkr. l. c. has ‘veitt;’ svá beitu vér bjarnuna á mörkinni norðr, sagði hann, O. H. L. 70, cp. above; verðr Salomon konungr varr at dýr hans eru beitt, biðr. 231; þeir beita bar mart dýr, hjörtu ok björnu ok hindr, 232: metaph. and reflex., b. e-m, sögðu þeir mundu eigi þeim birni bcitast, at deila um mál hans við ofreflismenn slíka, they said they would not hunt that bear, Ölk. 34: metaph., b. e-n brögðum, vélum, vélræðum…, to hunt one down with tricks or schemes; þykist þér nú allmjök hafa komizt fyrir mik í viti, ok beittan brögðum í þessu, Ísl. ii. 164; vélum, 623; úlögum, Sks. 22; illu, Fas. i. 208: recipr., við höfum opt brögðum beizt, … schemed against each other, Fms. xi. 263; stundum beittust þau velræðum, i. 57.

β. to bait; the bait in dat., the angle in acc.

V. to yoke to, of horse or cattle for a vehicle, the cattle almost always in acc.; þá vóru yxn fyrir sleða beittir, Eb. 172; bjó sér vagn ok beitti hest, Fms. x. 373, Gkv. 2. 18; ok beittu fyrir tvá sterka yxn, Eb. 176, Grett. 112, Stj. 206: with dat., b. hestum, vagni, to drive; but acc., beittu, Sigurðr, hinn blakka mar, S. saddle thy black steed, Ghv. 18: metaph., b. e-n fyrir e-t, to put one at the head of it, Sks. 710: reflex., beitast fyrir e-t, to lead a cause, to manage it, Ld. 196, Fms. viii. 22, Hkr. ii. 168.

VI. to hammer iron or metal into plates, v. beit, f.

SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Railways and locomotives

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Ill health forced Adams to live abroad when he was a young man and when he returned to England in the early 1830s he became a partner in his father's firm of coachbuilders. Coaches during that period were steered by a centrally pivoted front axle, which meant that the front wheels had to swing beneath the body and were therefore made smaller than the rear wheels. Adams considered this design defective and invented equirotal coaches, built by his firm, in which the front and rear wheels were of equal diameter and the coach body was articulated midway along its length so that the front part pivoted. He also applied himself to improving vehicles for railways, which were developing rapidly then.

In 1843 he opened his own engineering works, Fairfield Works in north London (he was not related to his contemporary William Adams, who was appointed Locomotive Superintendent to the North London Railway in 1854). In 1847 he and James Samuel, Engineer to the Eastern Counties Railway, built for that line a small steam inspection car, the Express, which was light enough to be lifted off the track. The following year Adams built a broad-gauge steam railcar, the Fairfield, for the Bristol \& Exeter Railway at the insistance of the line's Engineer, C.H.Gregory: self-propelled and passenger-carrying, this was the first railcar. Adams developed the concept further into a light locomotive that could haul two or three separate carriages, and light locomotives built both by his own firm and by other noted builders came into vogue for a decade or more.

In 1847 Adams also built eight-wheeled coaches for the Eastern Counties Railway that were larger and more spacious than most others of the day: each in effect comprised two four-wheeled coaches articulated together, with wheels that were allowed limited side-play. He also realized the necessity for improvements to railway track, the weakest point of which was the joints between the rails, whose adjoining ends were normally held in common chairs. Adams invented the fishplated joint, first used by the Eastern Counties Railway in 1849 and subsequently used almost universally.

Adams was a prolific inventor. Most important of his later inventions was the radial axle, which was first applied to the leading and trailing wheels of a 2–4–2 tank engine, the White Raven, built in 1863; Adams's radial axle was the forerunner of all later radial axles. However, the sprung tyres with which White Raven was also fitted (an elastic steel hoop was interposed between wheel centre and tyre) were not perpetuated. His inventiveness was not restricted to engineering: in matters of dress, his adoption, perhaps invention, of the turn-down collar at a time when men conventionally wore standup collars had lasting effect.

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SUBJECT AREA: Automotive engineering, Land transport

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The son of a railway mechanic, it is said that as a child one of his hobbies was the repair of Black Forest clocks. He trained as a mechanical engineer at the Karlsruhe Lyzeum and Polytechnikum under Ferdinand Redtenbacher (d. 1863), who pointed out to him the need for a more portable power source than the steam engine. He went to Maschinenbau Gesellschaft Karlsruhe for workshop experience and then joined Schweizer \& Cie, Mannheim, for two years. In 1868 he went to the Benkiser Brothers at Pforzheim. In 1871 he set up a small machine-tool works at Mannheim, but in 1877, in financial difficulties, he turned to the idea of an entirely new product based on the internal-combustion engine. At this time, N.A. Otto held the patent for the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, so Benz had to put his hopes on a two-stroke design. He avoided the trouble with Dugald Clerk's engine and designed one in which the fuel would not ignite in the pump and in which the cylinder was swept with fresh air between each two firing strokes. His first car had a sparking plug and coil ignition. By 1879 he had developed the engine to a stage where it would run satisfactorily with little attention. On 31 December 1879, with his wife Bertha working the treadle of her sewing machine to charge the batteries, he demonstrated his engine in street trials in Mannheim. In the summer of 1888, unknown to her husband, Bertha drove one of his cars the 80 km (50 miles) to Pforzheim and back with her two sons, aged 13 and 15. She and the elder boy pushed the car up hills while the younger one steered. They bought petrol from an apothecary in Wiesloch and had a brake block repaired in Bauschlott by the village cobbler. Karl Benz's comments on her return from this venture are not recorded! Financial problems prevented immediate commercial production of the automobile, but in 1882 Benz set up the Gasmotorenfabrik Mannheim. After trouble with some of his partners, he left in 1883 and formed a new company, Benz \& Cie, Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik. Otto's patent was revoked in 1886 and in that year Benz patented a motor car with a gas engine drive. He manufactured a 0.8hp car, the engine running at 250 rpm with a horizontal flywheel, exhibited at the Paris Fair in 1889. He was not successful in finding anyone in France who would undertake manufacture. This first car was a three-wheeler, and soon after he produced a four-wheeled car, but he quarrelled with his co-directors, and although he left the board in 1902 he rejoined it soon after.

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SUBJECT AREA: Land transport

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Reared in an agricultural community, Dunlop became a qualified veterinary surgeon and practised successfully in Edinburgh and then in Belfast when he moved there in 1867. In October 1887, Dunlop's 9-year-old son complained of the rough ride he experienced with his tricycle over the cobbled streets of Belfast. Dunlop devised and fitted rubber air tubes, held on to a wooden ring by tacking a linen covering which he fixed around the wheels of the tricycle. A marked improvement in riding quality was noted. After further development, a new tricycle was ordered, with the new airtube wheels. This was so successful that Dunlop applied for a patent on 23 July 1889, granted on 7 December. With tyres made in Edinburgh to his specification, bicycles were manufactured by Edlin \& Co. of Belfast and put on sale complete with pneumatic tyres. The successful performance of a racing bicycle thus equipped inspired an unsuccessful competitor, William Harvey de Cros, who had used a solid-tyred machine, to take an interest in Dunlop's invention. With Dunlop, he refloated a company in Dublin, the Pneumatic Tyre \& Booth's Cycle Agency. Dunlop made over his patents, for the tyre, valves, rims and fixing methods, to Du Cros and took shares in the company. Although he was involved in it for many years, it was Du Cros who steered the company through several struggles to success.

The pneumatic tyre revolutionized cycling and made possible the success of the motor vehicle, although Dunlop did not profit greatly from his invention. After the sale of the company in 1896, to E.T.Hooley for $3 million, he took no further part in the development of the pneumatic tyre. The company went on to become the great Dunlop Rubber Company.

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SUBJECT AREA: Automotive engineering, Land transport

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In 1884 Butler patented a design for a motor tricycle that was shown that year at the Stanley Cycle Show and in the following year at the Inventions Exhibition. In 1887 he patented his "Petrol-tricycle", which was built the following year. The cycle was steered through its two front wheels, while it was driven through its single rear wheel. The motor, which was directly connected to the rear wheel hub by means of overhung cranks, consisted of a pair of water-cooled 2 1/4 in. (57 mm) bore cylinders with an 8 in. (203 mm) stroke working on the Clerk two-stroke cycle. Ignition was by electric spark produced by a wiper breaking contact with the piston, adopted from Butler's own design of electrostatic ignition machine; this was later replaced by a Ruhmkorff coil and a battery. There was insufficient power with direct drive and the low engine speed of c.100 rpm, producing a road speed of approximately 12 mph (19 km/h), so Butler redesigned the engine with a 6 3/4 in. (171 mm) stroke and a four-stroke cycle with an epicyclic reduction gear drive of 4:1 and later 6:1 ratio which could run at 600 rpm. The combination of restrictive speed-limit laws and shortsightedness of his backers prevented development, despite successful road demonstrations. Interest was non-existent by 1895, and the following year this first English internal combustion engined motorcycle was broken up for the scrap value of some 163 lb (74 kg) of copper and brass contained in its structure.

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