How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the 19th-Century Innovators Who Forged Our Future

Science historian Morus (Nikola Tesla and the Electrical Future) connects the vision and accomplishments of the Victorian era to the technological advancements of the 21st century. He describes the emergence of a culture of science, starting with specialists who formed elite societies and instituted a practice of discipline in a growing number of fields. New methods of communication, calculation, and transportation changed the daily lives of people both inside and outside of the British Empire. New publications shared industrial developments across class lines. Large-scale exhibitions brought inventions and their inventors into the public eye. Projects such as the Thames Tunnel and the Atlantic Cable were widely popular, even when they failed. These discoveries led to new debates over standards, ownership, and labor. Morus argues that the Victorians not only created a new world, but they also had the vision to imagine futures beyond their time.