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The 10 moments that changed science and engineering: in pictures

Original diagrams and notes of some of the most significant breakthrough moments in science, engineering and technology have been collected for an exhibition

Stephenson’s Rocket – 1829 Pages 18 and 19 from a notebook recording details of the design of the ‘Rocket’ steam locomotive form part of the O2 Eureka Moment Gallery hosted at London's Proud Archivist.These drawings set out the design of the boiler, which would become the heart of most steam locomotives of the era. The Rocket won a competition to find the best locomotive for railway haulage on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The success of this line led to the widespread growth of the railway, which in turn fuelled the industrial revolution.
Babbage’s Difference Engine No 1 - 1832 (R detail) A drawing of the world’s first computer, which arguably has led directly to the development of the smartphones and computers in use today. “The Difference Engine” was a mechanical computer designed by Charles Babbage. The engine measured eight feet (2.43m) high, seven feet (2.13m) wide and three feet (0.91m) deep and comprised of a mass of brass gears. The drawing shows a version intended for the calculation of tables of logarithms and similar functions to be used by scientists and engineers.
SS Great Britain – 1847 A section view, through centre part of engine room of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s SS Great Britain. The ship was the first screw-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, as well as being the first iron-built ship to do so. She sailed from Liverpool to New York in 1845, taking 14 days 21 hours to make the crossing. She was completed in Bristol in 1843 for the Great Western Steamship Company to the plans of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859). Accommodation was provided for about 360 passengers. It is now located in a dry dock in Bristol, where it can visited by the public.
Eiffel Tower - 1887 Architectural drawings of the Eiffel Tower. Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) designed the world-famous tower, for the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889, commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. The tower consists of four curved iron piers connected by a lattice of girders. Construction started in January 1887 and was complete on 31 March 1889. It was further enlarged for the 1937 exhibition.
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity – 1917 (4) An image of a presentation copy of ‘Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie’ (On the Special and General Theory of Relativity), by Albert Einstein published in Braunschweig in 1917. The page is dedicated by the man himself. Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity were a genuine revolution in physics, positing the concept that time does not exist at the same rate for everyone and everything. Special Relativity produced the equation which expresses the equivalence between matter and energy: E=mc squared.
Jet Engine - 1928 This is the first page of Frank Whittle’s thesis setting out the design of the Jet Engine, which would go on to revolutionize aviation and touch all of our lives. It was written whilst Frank Whittle was a Flight Cadet at Cranwell. It was marked by Cranwell's Science Professor, given 30/30 and the comment 'The thesis shows much careful and original thought and also a good deal of private reading'.
Anglepoise Original 1227™ Lamp - 1935 The original patent application for the Anglepoise Original1227™, an iconic British classic. The genesis of the Anglepoise design was in a theoretical concept invented by automotive suspension designer, George Carwardine. Using pure engineering principles that mirrored the inflexion of the human arm and ‘constant tension’ springs, manufactured by spring specialists, Herbert Terry and Sons Ltd., Carwardine had created a perfectly balanced, exceptionally flexible and fully articulated lamp. This versatile, high performance lamp design revolutionised task lighting and maintains its popularity to this day. Whilst other companies were inspired to create similar products in more simplified form, Anglepoise continues to produce the original design alongside extended collections incorporating their unique constant spring technology.
Brompton Bicycle – 1975 The first annotated designs of the Brompton Bicycle, created by Andrew Ritchie in 1975 in an effort to find a fresh approach to the folding bike. The design was finalized in 1980 and low level production began the following year. Finely-engineered and elegant, the Brompton has a full-sized frame, made mainly of steel for strength and stiffness.
Brompton Bicycle – 1975 It is designed to be practical and light enough to be genuinely portable. The Brompton won the Queens Award for Export in 1995 and in 2012 was awarded the British Inspiration Award for Innovation, Enterprise and Industry.
Star Wars: Stormtrooper – 1976 The collection of three images includes sketches by Star Wars Stormtrooper creator Ralf McQuarrie which has not been exhibited before and which was based on US soldiers fighting in Vietnam. Ralf McQuarrie, the American conceptual designer and illustrator who designed the original Star Wars trilogy, was commissioned by Fox Pictures to take Lucas’ original design and adapt it to a more futuristic style. In 1976, prop maker Andrew Ainsworth was approached and tasked to make the designs work three dimensionally and create the original Stormtrooper costumes used for the first Star Wars movie. He created the prototypes for the helmets and armour, and after approval from Lucas, went into production to create the iconic trooper costumes used in the original films – with the design carried on throughout the series.
Gensler Shanghai Tower - 2014 A sketch of the proposed, super-tall, 632-meter tower will be sited in the heart of Shanghai’s Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, adjacent the Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Centre. The Tower has been designed by Gensler, a global design and architecture firm based in the US. When built, it will become the skyline's most prominent icon.