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121 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 thatphysically 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. -
122 Achard, Franz
SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology[br]b. 1753 Germanyd. 1821 Germany[br]German scientist of French descent who built the world's first factory to extract sugar from beet.[br]The descendant of a French refugee, Achard began the systematic study of beet on his estate at Caulsdorf in 1786. The work had been stimulated by the discovery in 1747 of the presence of sugar in fodder beet. This research had been carried out by Andreas Marggraf, under whom Franz Achard trained. After a fire destroyed his laboratories Achard established himself on the domain of Französisch in Buchholtz near Berlin.After thirteen years of study he felt sufficiently confident to apply for an interview with Frederick William III, King of Prussia, which took place on 11 January 1799. Achard presented the King with a loaf of sugar made from raw beet by his Sugar Boiling House method. He requested a ten-year monopoly on his idea, as well as the grant of land on which to carry out his work. The King was sufficiently impressed to establish a committee to supervise further trials, and asked Achard to make a public statement on his work. The King ordered a factory to be built at his own expense, and paid Achard a salary to manage it. In 1801 he was granted the domain of Cunern in Silesia; he built his first sugar factory there and began production in 1802. Unfortunately Achard's business skills were negligible, and he was bankrupt within the year. In 1810 the State relieved him of his debt and gave him a pension, and in 1812 the first sugar factory was turned into a school of sugar technology.[br]BibliographyAchard's public response to the King's request was his paper Abhandlungen über die Kultur der Runkelrube.Further ReadingNoel Deerr, 1950, The History of Sugar, Vol. II, London (deals with the development of sugar extraction from beet, and therefore the story of both Marggraf and Achard).AP -
123 Chapman, Frederik Henrik af
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 9 September 1721 Gothenburg, Swedend. 19 August 1808 Karlskrona, Sweden[br]Swedish naval architect and shipbuilder; one of the foremost ship designers of all time.[br]Chapman was born on the west coast of Sweden and was the son of a British naval officer serving in the Swedish Navy. In 1738 he followed in his father's footsteps by joining the naval dockyards as a shipbuilding apprentice. Subsequent experience was gained in other shipyards and by two years (1741–3) in London. His assiduous note taking and study of British shipbuilding were noticed and he was offered appointments in England, but these were refused and he returned to Sweden in 1744 and for a while operated as a ship repairer in partnership with a man called Bagge. In 1749 he started out on his own. He began with a period of study in Stockholm and in London, where he worked for a while under Thomas Simpson, and then went on to France and the Netherlands. During his time in England he learned the art of copper etching, a skill that later stood him in good stead. After some years he was appointed Deputy Master Shipwright to the Swedish Navy, and in 1760 he became Master Shipwright at Sveaborg (now Suomenlinna), the fortress island of Helsinki. There Chapman excelled by designing the coastal defence or skerry fleet that to this day is accepted as beautiful and fit for purpose. He understood the limitations of ship design and throughout his life strove to improve shipbuilding by using the advances in mathematics and science that were then being made. His contribution to the rationalization of thought in ship theory cannot be overemphasized.In 1764 he became Chief Shipbuilder to the Swedish Navy, with particular responsibility for Karlskrona and for Stockholm. He assisted in the new rules for the classification of warships and later introduced standardization to the naval dockyards. He continued to rise in rank and reputation until his retirement in 1793, but to the end his judgement was sought on many matters concerning not only ship design but also the administration of the then powerful Swedish Navy.His most important bequest to his profession is the great book Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, first published in 1768. Later editions were larger and contained additional material. This volume remains one of the most significant works on shipbuilding.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1772. Rear Admiral 1783, Vice-Admiral 1791.Bibliography1768, Architecture Navalis Mercatoria; 1975, pub. in English, trans. Adlard Coles. 1775, Tractat om Skepps-Buggeriet.Further ReadingD.G.Harris, 1989, F.H.Chapman, the First Naval Architect and His Work, London: Conway (an excellent biography).FMWBiographical history of technology > Chapman, Frederik Henrik af
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124 Dow, Herbert Henry
SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy[br]b. 26 February 1866 Belleville, Ontario, Canadad. 15 October 1930 Rochester, Minnesota, USA[br]American industrial chemist, pioneer manufacturer of magnesium alloys.[br]Of New England ancestry, his family returned there soon after his birth and later moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1884, Dow entered the Case School of Applied Science, graduating in science four years later. His thesis dealt partly with the brines of Ohio, and he was persuaded to present a paper on brine to the meeting of the American Association for he Advancement of Science being held in Cleveland the same year. That entailed visits to collect samples of brines from various localities, and led to the observation that their composition varied, one having a higher lithium content while another was richer in bromine. This study of brines proved to be the basis for his career in industrial chemistry. In 1888 Dow was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the Homeopathic Hospital College in Cleveland, but he continued to work on brine, obtaining a patent in the same year for extracting bromine by blowing air through slightly electrolysed brine. He set up a small company to exploit the process, but it failed; the process was taken up and successfully worked by the Midland Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan. The electrolysis required a direct-current generator which, when it was installed in 1892, was probably the first of its kind in America. Dow next set up a company to produce chlorine by the electrolysis of brine. It moved to Midland in 1896, and the Dow Central Company purchased the Midland Chemical Company in 1900. Its main concern was the manufacture of bleaching powder, but the company continued to grow, based on Dow's steady development of chemical compounds that could be derived from brines. His search for further applications of chlorine led to the making of insecticides and an interest in horticulture. Meanwhile, his experience at the Homeopathic Hospital doubtless fired an interest in pharmaceuticals. One of the substances found in brine was magnesium chloride, and by 1918 magnesium metal was being produced on a small scale by electrolysis. An intensive study of its alloys followed, leading to the large-scale production of these important light-metal alloys, under the name of Dowmetals. Two other "firsts" achieved by the company were the synthetic indigo process and the production of the element iodine in the USA. The Dow company became one of the leading chemical manufacturers in the USA, and at the same time Dow played an active part in public life, serving on many public and education boards.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsSociety of Chemical Industry Perkin Medal 1930.BibliographyDow was granted 65 patents for a wide range of chemical processes.Further ReadingObituary, 1930, Ind. Eng. Chem. (October)."The Dow Chemical Company", 1925, Ind. Eng. Chem. (September)LRD -
125 Lister, Joseph, Baron Lister
SUBJECT AREA: Medical technology[br]b. 5 April 1827 Upton, Essex, Englandd. 10 February 1912 Walmer, Kent, England[br]English surgeon, founder of the antiseptic and aseptic principles of surgical practice.[br]Of Quaker stock, his father also being a Fellow of the Royal Society, he studied medicine at University College, London. He qualified, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1852. Wishing to pursue a surgical career, he moved to Edinburgh to study surgery under William Syme, whose daughter he married in 1852, the same year he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.Until his appointment as Regius Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University and Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1861, he was engaged in a wide variety of investigations into the nature of inflammation and the effects of irritants on wounds. Following his move to Glasgow, he became particularly involved in the major problems arising out of the vast increase in the number of surgical procedures brought about by the recent introduction of general anaesthesia. By 1865 his continuing study of wound inflammation and the microbial studies of Pasteur had led him to institute in the operating theatre a regime of surgical antisepsis involving the use of a carbolic acid spray coupled with the sterilization of instruments, the site of operation and the hands of the operator. Increasingly it was appreciated that the air was the least important origin of infection, and by 1887 the antiseptic approach had been superseded by the aseptic.In 1869 he succeeded Syme in the Chair at Edinburgh and his methods were widely accepted abroad. In 1877 he moved to the Chair of Surgery at King's College Hospital, London, in the hope of encouraging acceptance of his work in the metropolis. As well as developing a variety of new surgical procedures, he was engaged for many years in the development of surgical ligatures, which had always been a potent stimulant of infection. His choice of catgut as a sterilizable, absorbable material paved the way for major developments in this field. The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine was named in his honour in 1903.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsCreated Baronet 1883. Baron 1897. Order of Merit 1902. President, Royal Society 1895– 1900.Bibliography1870, "On the effects of the antiseptic system of treatment upon the salubrity of a surgical hospital", Lancet.1859, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.1863, Croonian Lecture.1881, 1900, Transactions of the International Medical Congress.Further ReadingR.J.Godlee, 1924, Lord Lister.1927, Lister Centenary Handbook, London: Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. H.C.Cameron, 1948, Joseph Lister, the Friend of Man.MGBiographical history of technology > Lister, Joseph, Baron Lister
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126 Taylor, William
[br]b. 11 June 1865 London, Englandd. 28 February 1937 Laughton, Leicestershire, England[br]English mechanical engineer and metrologist, originator of standard screw threads for lens mountings and inventor of "Dimple" golf balls.[br]William Taylor served an apprenticeship from 1880 to 1885 in London with Paterson and Cooper, electrical engineers and instrument makers. He studied at the Finsbury Technical College under Professors W.E.Ayrton (1847–1908) and John Perry (1850–1920). He remained with Paterson and Cooper until 1887, when he joined his elder brother, who had set up in Leicester as a manufacturer of optical instruments. The firm was then styled T.S. \& W.Taylor and a few months later, when H.W.Hobson joined them as a partner, it became Taylor, Taylor and Hobson, as it was known for many years.William Taylor was mainly responsible for technical developments in the firm and he designed the special machine tools required for making lenses and their mountings. However, his most notable work was in originating methods of measuring and gauging screw threads. He proposed a standard screw-thread for lens mountings that was adopted by the Royal Photographic Society, and he served on screw thread committees of the British Standards Institution and the British Association. His interest in golf led him to study the flight of the golf ball, and he designed and patented the "Dimple" golf ball and a mechanical driving machine for testing golf balls.He was an active member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, being elected Associate Member in 1894, Member in 1901 and Honorary Life Member in 1936. He served on the Council from 1918 and was President in 1932. He took a keen interest in engineering education and advocated the scientific study of materials, processes and machine tools, and of management. His death occurred suddenly while he was helping to rescue his son's car from a snowdrift.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsOBE 1918. FRS 1934. President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1932.Further ReadingK.J.Hume, 1980, A History of Engineering Metrology, London, 110–21 (a short account of William Taylor and of Taylor, Taylor and Hobson).RTS -
127 Varian, Sigurd Fergus
[br]b. 4 May 1901 Syracuse, New York, USAd. 18 October 1961 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico[br]American electrical engineer who, with his brother Russell, developed the klystron microwave tube.[br]Sigurd Varian left school in 1920 and entered California Polytechnic to study engineering, but he soon dropped out and trained as an electrician, taking up employment with the Southern Californian Edison Company. As a result of working on an airfield he developed an interest in flying. He took lessons and in 1924 bought a First World War biplane and became a "barnstorming" pilot, giving flying displays and joy-rides, etc., to earn his living. Beset by several prolonged bouts of tuberculosis, he used his periods of recuperation to study aerial navigation and to devise navigation instruments. In 1929 he took a permanent job as a pilot for Pan American in Mexico, but in 1935 he went to California to work on electron tubes with his younger brother, Eric. They were soon joined by Russell, and with William Hansen they developed the klystron. For details of this part of his life and the founding of Varian Associates, see under Russell Varian. In later years, his health increasingly poor, he lived in semi-retirement in Mexico, where he died in a plane crash while flying himself home.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFranklin Institute Medal.Bibliography1939, with R.S.Varian, "High frequency oscillator and amplifier", Journal of Applied Physics 10:321 (describes the klystron).Further ReadingJ.R.Pierce, 1962, "History of the microwave tube art", Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers 979 (provides background to development of the klystron).D.Varian, 1983, The Inventor and the Pilot (biographies of the brothers).KF -
128 disadvantage
ˌdɪsədˈvɑ:ntɪdʒ сущ.
1) а) неудобство, невыгодное положение, неблагоприятное условие( for, to) б) барьер, помеха, преграда, препятствие, затруднение a decided disadvantage ≈ явное препятствие/затруднение It put us under a serious disadvantage. ≈ Это оказалось серьезным затруднением для нас. Syn: handicap
2) вред, ущерб;
урон to offset a disadvantage, outweigh a disadvantage ≈ компенсировать ущерб Syn: harm, hurt, detriment невыгодное, неблагоприятное положение - to be at a * быть в невыгодном положении - to feel at a * понимать /ощущать/ невыгоды своего положения;
чувствовать себя неуютно - to take smb. at a * застать кого-л. врасплох - to show oneself at a * /to */ показать себя в невыгодном свете /с невыгодной стороны/ - to study under *s заниматься в неблагоприятных условиях - to be oppressed /crushed/ by one's *s согнуться под тяжестью неудач - *s in pay to workers in consumer industries compared to those in heavy industry преимущества в оплате труда, которые имеют рабочие, занятые в тяжелой промышленности, по сравнению с рабочими, занятыми в легкой промышленности недостаток - the machine has two serious *s в этой машине два больших дефекта вред, ущерб;
убыток - to sell to /at a/ * продать с убытком, быть в накладе - to spread reports to the * of smb. представлять кого-л. в невыгодном свете - it worked to the * of the family business это наносило ущерб семейному бизнесу (шахматное) потеря ставить в невыгодное положение причинять вред, ущерб ~ невыгода, невыгодное положение;
to be at a disadvantage быть в невыгодном положении disadvantage вред, ущерб, убыток ~ вред, ущерб;
неудобство ~ вред ~ неблагоприятное положение ~ невыгода, невыгодное положение;
to be at a disadvantage быть в невыгодном положении ~ невыгодное, неблагоприятное положение ~ невыгодное положение ~ помеха ~ (шахм.) потеря ~ причинять вред ~ причинять ущерб ~ ставить в невыгодное положение ~ убыток ~ ущерб to put (smb.) at a ~ поставить( кого-л.) в невыгодное положение to take (smb.) at a ~ быть в более выгодном положении, чем( кто-л.) to take (smb.) at a ~ застать (кого-л.) врасплохБольшой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > disadvantage
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