Images

A morse key for an electrical telegraph machine. From a British post office and in use in the 19th to 20th century. (Science Museum, London)

A model of the first telegraph machine developed by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) of Massachusetts, probably made around 1835. (Science Museum, London)

The coat of arms of the city of Sheffield, England, granted in 1875. A representation of Thor stands on the left and Vulcan on the right, indicating the city's heritage as a world-famous steel manufacturer. The legend can be translated as...

A cut-away model of a Bessemer converter, invented by Henry Bessemer in 1856 during the Industrial Revolution in order to mass-produce steel. (Science Museum, London)

A 1917 oil on canvas painting by E.F. Skinner showing steel being made using a Bessemer converter, an invention of the Industrial Revolution. (Science Museum, London)

John Spurling, author of Arcadian Days: Gods, Women, and Men from Greek Myths.

Arcadian Days: Gods, Women, and Men from Greek Myths by John Spurling and published by Pegasus Books.

Hymn to Nungal, a Sumerian poem dated to the Old Babylonian Period (c. 2000-1600 BCE), owing to the number of copies found from that era, but possibly composed during the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE). Exhibit in the Oriental Institute Museum...

A Bessemer converter in the Science Museum, Sheffield, England. Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) invented a converter in 1856 during the Industrial Revolution that made steel production much cheaper and more reliable. Steel was much stronger, lighter...

The first telegraph machine, invented in 1837 by William Fothergill Cook (1806-79) and Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875). The machine had only 20 letters, indicated in the message sent by the slight movement of two needles (from the machine’s...