James Hargreaves’s historic invention was not without its critics when it first appeared.

Samuel Smiles explains how Tudor England was transformed from sleepy backwater to hive of industry.

Sir Humphry Davy pleads with Britain’s scientists not to be bought by Napoleon’s gold.

As Japan’s ruling shoguns resist the tide of progress, a Nagasaki-based Scottish entrepreneur steps in.

The unsung surveyor from Cheshire, who built railways and made friends across the world.

George Stephenson won the admiration of French navvies by showing them how a Geordie works a shovel.