engineering

Essays
The Dreams of an Inventor in 1420

The Dreams of an Inventor in 1420

Bennett Gilbert peruses the sketchbook of 15th-century engineer Johannes de Fontana, a catalogue of designs for a variety of fantastic and often impossible inventions, including fire-breathing automatons, pulley-powered angels, and the earliest surviving drawing of a magic lantern device. more

The Forth Bridge: Building an Icon

The Forth Bridge: Building an Icon

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND - Alison Metcalfe, curator in the Manuscript and Archive Collections department, presents the library's collection of photographs recording the construction of the Forth Bridge, the first major structure in Britain to be made of steel and a milestone in civil engineering. more

Concrete Poetry: Thomas Edison and the Almost-Built World

Concrete Poetry: Thomas Edison and the Almost-Built World

The architect and historian Anthony Acciavatti uses a real (but mostly forgotten) patent to conjure a world that could have been. more