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The Ingenious Victorians: Weird and Wonderful Ideas from the Age of Innovation
£14.20
We all know that some of the greatest inventions came from the Victorian age, the successors of which are still with us today. But this book is not entirely about those. It’s more about some of the weird and wonderful inventions, ideas and projects – some successful, others less so – that have largely been forgotten. Where well-known inventions or design concepts are included, it is from a perspective not previously appreciated, with details of the ingenious technology and thinking that led to their introduction and success. Here you can read how Victorian innovators were responsible for: the world’s largest glass structure; an electric railway with lines under the sea and a carriage on stilts 20 feet above the waves; a monster globe that visitors could enter to see the world’s land masses, seas, mountains and valleys modelled on the interior; cameras disguised as bowler hats and many other everyday objects; the London Underground as a steam railway; safety coffins designed to prevent premature burial; unusual medical uses for electricity; the first traffic lights, which exploded a month after their erection in Westminster; and the birth and rapid rise to popularity of the cinema …as well as many other ingenious inventions.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Pen & Sword History (6 July 2016) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 224 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1473849012 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1473849013 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm |
by P Deller
soso expected more
by margaret harris
Quite a goid read
by Timothy C
This book is subtitled ‘Weird and wonderful ideas from the age of innovation’ and of that there can be no argument. Even the most unscholarly schoolboy will be aware of the incredible advances, technological achievements and occasionally bonkers ideas that were produced during the Victorian period (and not only in Great Britain it should be pointed out) and this book is a celebration of some of the best/worst/infamous and celebrated from the era.
The contents cover such wondrous capital-centric curiosities as the FIRST channel tunnel, the London sewer system, the Crystal Palace and Great Exhibition of 1851, along with excursions into the new fangled science of fooling/ripping off the gullible public such as the health benefits of electrocuting ones nether regions and the fear (and solution) to being buried alive, to several hair raising real life railway related transport attractions that are beyond belief – do you fancy a ride in a 40 foot high gondola THROUGH the surf of Brighton beach, powered by electrical cables that are part of the mostly submerged track?
The book has a very brief introduction that places the position of Great Britain (and in particular Queen Victoria and husband Albert) within the World and why, following the industrial revolution, there was such an incredible flowering of ideas, plans and implementation of so much of what we today may well take for granted – clean water for instance.
The authors research and detail are obvious without ever feeling like a history lesson, and I was reminded of a series of TV programmes by a chap called Adam Hart Davies that were aired in the 90’s – (‘what the Victorians did for us’) – knowledge and genuine enthusiasm will always be a winning combination whatever the subject matter.
As a photographic collector and user I was happy to see there is a chapter on the world’s biggest camera, an excellent one on disguised cameras, a further one detailing the birth and rapid development of the photographic process(es) and finally one on early cinema .
I give this book my highest recommendation as a one that will appeal to anyone with an interest in history, invention, design, success and failure, and even as a relatively non flag waving briton I felt thoroughly proud to be British whilst reading it.
by Mark Dawson
An enjoyable read, full of interesting facts, very well illustrated.