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Stories from the Institution of Engineering and Technology

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‘The science of the judgments of the stars’: an early manuscript from the IET’s rare book collection

By Anne Locker, Library and Archives Manager The Hand List of the Library of Magnetic and Electrical Books in the Possession of Silvanus Phillips Thompson is the earliest record we have of the S P Thompson Library, acquired by the... Continue Reading →

Thunder and lightning

By Anne Locker What connects meteorology, the siege of Paris and the first air mail deliveries? A book in the IET Library’s S P Thompson Study Collection, Thunder and Lightning by Wilfrid de Fonvielle. Thunder and Lightning (1868) The original... Continue Reading →

From under the sea to the edge of space: the work of Oliver Heaviside

By Anne Locker Early life and career Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925) was a telegraphist, self-taught mathematician and reclusive figure. He never attended meetings – he nearly turned down a nomination for Fellowship of the Royal Society over the requirement to come... Continue Reading →

A Glasgow All-Electric House

by Anne Locker In 1923, IEE member Stanley Parker Smith was planning a new house in Glasgow, designed for “all-electric working” with no coal or gas. The design, construction and electrical installation of the house is described in a paper... Continue Reading →

Luxurious locomotives

By Anne Locker, Library and Archives Manager Illustration from ‘Train lighting from the car axle’, Consolidated Railway Electric Lighting and Equipment Company 1900 (IEE Pamphlets 625.2) This illustration of the interior of an elegant private train car, fitted with the... Continue Reading →

A tale of two charters

By Anne Locker, Library and Archives Manager A Royal Charter for the Society of Telegraph Engineers In 1875, the meteorologist and telegraphy pioneer Sir Francis Ronalds bequeathed his library of rare books to the Society of Telegraph Engineers, an organisation... Continue Reading →

Magnetic Storms by A.G. McNish

By Aisling O'Malley, IET Archivist On Sunday 24th March 1940, a magnetic storm impacted the power and communication systems across North America. Reports from the time noted cases of voltage dips, the tripping of transformer banks, and severe and reactive... Continue Reading →

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