Bailey J. Inventive Geniuses Who Changed the World

Springer, 2022. — 489 p. — ISBN 978-3-030-81380-2.This book describes the life and times of fifty-three great British scientists and engineers – male and female inventive geniuses who changed the world, improving the lives of mankind, and propelling humanity forward. Their stories abound with personal ingenuity, brilliance and scientific or engineering wizardry, and with the ambition to satisfy fundamental human needs. The author aspires to set these individual achievements in the socio-political context of their place in history, sometimes embracing the activities of others to round off the story and scientific contribution. Avoiding overly technical language, he nonetheless succeeds in making complex theories and technologies more comprehensible and accessible to a lay audience. This book is a must for all those interested in the prehistory and history of the steam engine, transport, communication technology, public health services, and many topics from the natural sciences. Many of the inventions described in its pages have helped shape the modern world.“Revolutions”—Scientific, Agricultural and Industrial
The Steam Age—Evolution of Steam Engines and the 1st Steam Locomotive
Advances in Forms of Transport—Steam Locomotives, Cycle Tyres, Oceanic Liners, and Jet Aircraft. Transport Infrastructure—Canals, Roads, and Commercial Railways
Drawbackswith Industrialization. Sanitary Revolution Offering Technologies to Improve Public Health
17th and 18th Century Multi-disciplinary Scientists. Motion, Forces, Gravity and Light
Natural Sciences
History of the Atom, 1803–1932
Life Sciences Leading to Health Care, Dental Hygiene, Disease Control, Hospital Sanitation and IVF. Great British Physicians and Nurses
Electricity, Magnetism and Light and Their Inter-relationship. Electrolysis
and Electrochemistry. Foundations for Both the ‘Mechanised Age’ (Powered by Electricity) and Radio Broadcasting
Palaeontology and Evolution
X-ray Crystallography of Biomolecules
Nucleosides, Nucleotides, Polynucleotides (RNA and DNA) and the Genetic Code
Science of Key Building Materials—Cementitious Substances, Iron and Steel
Communication: Telephone, Computers andWWW
Solving Crime Via Forensic Science
Looking Forward to Challenges and OpportunitiesAppendixes
Technical Comparison of Brunel’s Great Oceanic Steamships
Some Key Milestones in the History of Vulcanised and Synthetic Rubber Pneumatic Tyres
Chronicle of Early British (German and American) Jet Engines. Frank Whittle’s Engine Lineage
Key Properties of, and Conditions for, the Formation of Electromagnetic Radiation
Biological and Global Consequences of Exposure to Photons