Images

An 1830 coloured illustration by R.H. Laurie of the Thames Tunnel in London. Designed by Marc Isambard Brunel, the tunnel was completed in 1843. (Science Museum, London)

An 1812 illustration showing the mysterious Ned Ludd, leader of the machine-smashing Luddites in early-19th century Britain.

Udug-ḫul (Evil Demon) Tablet 11, Late Babylonian period, modern-day Iraq. The British Museum, London.

An illustration of the entangled family line of the House of Atreus from Greek mythology, which featured promptly amongst the ancient Greek Tragedies. The cursed House of Atreus is one of the most prominent examples of the concept of miasma...

Hannah Giving Her Son Samuel to the Priest, oil on canvas by Jan Victors, 1645. Berlin State Museums.

An 1835 engraving by J. Tingle (from an illustration by T. Allom) of power looms in a textile mill during the Industrial Revolution. The power loom weaving machine was invented by Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823) in 1785. The machine doubled...

An illustration of Luddites smashing textile machines. The Luddite movement (from 1812) included skilled textile workers who had lost their jobs in the increasingly mechanized textile industry during the Industrial Revolution.

An illustration of the lockstitch sewing machine, invented in 1844 by Elias Howe (1819-1867) in Cambridge, USA. The machine made much stronger fabrics than previously as the stitches did not unravel if the thread broke. The secret was the...

A diagram showing a cross-section of a cast-iron loom powered by steam as invented by Richard Roberts (1789-1864) in 1822. The diagram illustrates the importance of clock-working engineering in textile mechanization. From R. Marsden's...

Samuel anointing David, Byzantine silver plate, made in Constantinople, 629-630. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.