Subjects

Discovery and Invention

Tales of scientific innovation and merchant enterprise, from steam power and life-saving medicines to new trade partners far away, and new ways to reach them.

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The Ladies’ Diary

A long-lived annual of riddles, rhymes and really hard maths aimed specifically at Georgian Britain’s hidden public of clever women.

62

A Monument to Liberty

Samuel Smiles explains why the London and Birmingham Railway was an achievement superior to the Great Pyramid of Giza.

63

The Rainhill Trials

To prove that steam power was the future of railways, George Stephenson held a truly historic competition.

64

Britain’s Best Gift to India

Samuel Smiles reminds us that until we brought the railways to India, we had little to boast about as an imperial power.

65

India’s First Railway

The opening of the Bombay to Thane line was the real beginning of British India.

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Alan Blumlein

Railway enthusiast, music lover, and the man who gave us stereo sound.