Tagged with Science
Resource : Pneumatic tyre – Brougham Carriage
The pneumatic tyre was developed to help transform road travel and make journeys more comfortable, while reducing damage to vehicles. Its emergence can be credited to two different Scottish inventors – first Robert Thomson in the 1840s, who patented the tyre, and later John Boyd Dunlop some 40 years after, whose designs led to improvements for bicycles and later cars.
Resource : Darwin’s Finches
The theory of evolution by natural selection, proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, transformed the way we understand the natural world. Through careful observations, made over many years, they each realised that animals and plants that are particularly well suited to their environment are the most likely to survive, and so pass these characteristics on to the next generation. Gradually, over many generations, these characteristics – such as long necks, warm fur, being able to see well in the dark etc – become more common in a population, and a species changes over time.
Resource : Laennec stethoscope
Today, the stethoscope is a fundamental and indispensable part of a doctor’s kit, often providing the first clues to the nature of a variety of chest complaints. But in the early 1800s, simple diagnostic tools like this had yet to be developed. The invention of the stethoscope by René Laënnec (1781 – 1826) revolutionised the capacity of the physician (doctor) to diagnose chest, heart and lung complaints.
Resource : Newcomen Beam Engine
The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712. It was the first machine to be powered by steam and was largely used to pump water out of mines. Hundreds of these engines were made and used all over Britain and Europe in the 1700s. They became known simply as the Newcomen Engine and helped pave the way for the Industrial revolution.
Resource : The Peppered Moth
The story of the Peppered Moth is one of the clearest illustrations, both of the effects of the Industrial revolution, and of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace’s famous theory of evolution by natural selection.
Resource : Battlefield Injuries Illustrated by Charles Bell
This entry includes graphic illustrations of war injuries which some may find upsetting.
This is a watercolour painting by Charles Bell, a British Army surgeon who helped to treat the wounded after the Battle of Waterloo. His haunting paintings are stark reminders of what early 19th century battle injuries were like. They are rare images executed by a practising surgeon and artist, which was an unusual combination. While his portraits powerfully show the agony and trauma experienced by these young men, they also describe their wounds with anatomical accuracy.
Resource : James Joule
James Joule became a world-renowned physicist, initially by seeking scientific advances to help his family brewery. He is best remembered for his discovery that different forms of energy – electrical, mechanical, heat – are interchangeable, and for establishing that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The International unit of energy, the joule, is named in his honour.
Resource : Plate 5: Elements, part of a new system of chemical philosophy
John Dalton was a renowned British chemist, best remembered for introducing atomic theory into chemistry. This is the theory that all substances are made from tiny particles called atoms. His theory revolutionised scientific understanding, helping to explain chemical phenomena that had long puzzled scientists, and providing a theoretical foundation for chemistry that remains today.
Resource : Daguerrotype of Boulevard due Temple
Created in 1838 by inventor Louis Daguerre, this is thought to be the first ‘photograph’ of a person. The image shows a street scene from the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. In the bottom left hand corner, is a small figure – a man having his shoes shined.
Resource : Forth and Clyde Canal steamboat: Charlotte Dundas
Britain’s canal system was a relatively short lived, but nevertheless important revolution in transport. Canals were an essential part of the Industrial Revolution and spawned Britain’s first successful steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas.