a Mughal metallurgist, astronomer, geometer and craftsman, was born and raised in Thatta, Sindh province in Pakistan, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and the governorship of the Mughal Nawab Mirza Ghazi Beg of Sindh. In 1559, Muhammad Saleh Thattvi headed the task of creating a massive, seamless celestial globe using a secret cire perdue m...

a Mughal metallurgist, astronomer, geometer and craftsman, was born and raised in Thatta, Sindh province in Pakistan, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and the governorship of the Mughal Nawab Mirza Ghazi Beg of Sindh. In 1559, Muhammad Saleh Thattvi headed the task of creating a massive, seamless celestial globe using a secret cire perdue method in the Mughal Empire, the famous celestial globe of Muhammad Saleh Tahtawi is inscribed with Arabic and Persian inscriptions. Twenty other such globes were produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. It is considered a major feat in metallurgy.

an English scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work, in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction, led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. He was the holder of a controv...

an English scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work, in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction, led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. He was the holder of a controversial patent that affected the early development of commercial photography in Britain. A polymath, Talbot was elected to the Royal Society in 1831 for his work on the integral calculus, and researched in optics, chemistry, electricity and other subjects such as etymology and ancient history.

a Japanese rangaku scholar, engineer and inventor during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period in Japan. In 1875 he founded what became the Toshiba Corporation. From age 20 he began to make karakuri dolls, autonomous dolls powered by springs, pneumatics and hydraulics, capable of relatively complex movements, which were much in demand by the aristocrats of Ky...

a Japanese rangaku scholar, engineer and inventor during the Bakumatsu and early Meiji period in Japan. In 1875 he founded what became the Toshiba Corporation. From age 20 he began to make karakuri dolls, autonomous dolls powered by springs, pneumatics and hydraulics, capable of relatively complex movements, which were much in demand by the aristocrats of Kyoto, daimy? in feudal domains, and by the Sh?gun’s court in Edo. At age 21, he was performing around the country at festivals with clockwork dolls he constructed himself. In 1834, he relocated to Osaka, where he experimented in pneumatics, hydraulics and forms of lighting based on rapeseed oil, including a pocket candlestick and an oil lamp with an air-pressurized fuel pump which proved to be very popular.

a Belgium-born French harpsichord and piano maker. Taskin inherited Blanchet's title of facteur des clavessins du Roi, and became keeper of the King’s instruments when Christophe Chiquelier retired in 1774. He set up a workshop in Versailles with his nephew Pascal Joseph Taskin II (1750–1829) in 1777 in order to carry out the latter role; his other nephe...

a Belgium-born French harpsichord and piano maker. Taskin inherited Blanchet's title of facteur des clavessins du Roi, and became keeper of the King’s instruments when Christophe Chiquelier retired in 1774. He set up a workshop in Versailles with his nephew Pascal Joseph Taskin II (1750–1829) in 1777 in order to carry out the latter role; his other nephews Henry Taskin and Lambert Taskin also worked for him, though little is known of them. Pascal Joseph II went on to work in the Blanchet workshop in 1763 and, like his uncle, married into the family in 1777 with his wedding to François Etienne Blanchet II's daughter. Pascal Taskin was succeeded after his death in 1793 by his former master's son, Armand François Nicolas Blanchet, whom he had brought up himself.

a French inventor, who invented the first sewing machine that replicated sewing by hand. In 1829, he invented the sewing machine and in 1830 he signed a contract with Auguste Ferrand, a mining engineer, who made the requisite drawings and submitted a patent application. The patent for his machine was issued on 17 July 1830 in the names of both men, supported...

a French inventor, who invented the first sewing machine that replicated sewing by hand. In 1829, he invented the sewing machine and in 1830 he signed a contract with Auguste Ferrand, a mining engineer, who made the requisite drawings and submitted a patent application. The patent for his machine was issued on 17 July 1830 in the names of both men, supported by the French government. The same year, he opened (with partners) the first machine-based clothing manufacturing company in the world. It was supposed to create army uniforms. However, the factory was burned down, reportedly by workers fearful of losing work following the issuing of the patent.

an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics. He served as lieutenant-colonel of the King's American Dragoons, part of the British Loyalist forces, during the American Revolutionary War. After the end of the war he moved to London, where his administ...

an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics. He served as lieutenant-colonel of the King's American Dragoons, part of the British Loyalist forces, during the American Revolutionary War. After the end of the war he moved to London, where his administrative talents were recognized when he was appointed a full colonel, and in 1784 he received a knighthood from King George III. A prolific designer, Thompson also drew designs for warships. He later moved to Bavaria and entered government service there, being appointed Bavarian Army Minister and re-organizing the army, and, in 1791, was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory still further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. ...

By 1847, Thomson had already gained a reputation as a precocious and maverick scientist when he attended the British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Oxford. In 1848, he extended the Carnot–Clapeyron theory still further through his dissatisfaction that the gas thermometer provided only an operational definition of temperature. Thomson developed a complete system for operating a submarine telegraph that was capable of sending a character every 3.5 seconds. He patented the key elements of his system, the mirror galvanometer and the siphon recorder, in 1858.

a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall, England. His most significant contribution was the development of the first high-pressure steam engine. He also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive. On 21 February 1804 the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a ...

a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall, England. His most significant contribution was the development of the first high-pressure steam engine. He also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive. On 21 February 1804 the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

an English agricultural pioneer from Berkshire who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1700 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows. He later developed a horse-drawn hoe. Tull's methods were adopted by many great landowners and helped to provide the basis for modern agriculture. Jethro Tull ...

an English agricultural pioneer from Berkshire who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1700 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows. He later developed a horse-drawn hoe. Tull's methods were adopted by many great landowners and helped to provide the basis for modern agriculture. Jethro Tull made early advances in planting crops with his seed drill (1701) – a mechanical seeder that sowed efficiently at the correct depth and spacing and then covered the seed so that it could grow.

an Italian inventor, invented a mechanical typing machine, one of the first typewriters at the start of the 19th century (conflicting accounts suggest 1801, 1806 or 1808) for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine. According to another version, the machine was invented in 1802...

an Italian inventor, invented a mechanical typing machine, one of the first typewriters at the start of the 19th century (conflicting accounts suggest 1801, 1806 or 1808) for his blind friend Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano. He also invented carbon paper to provide the ink for his machine. According to another version, the machine was invented in 1802 by Agostino Fantoni from Fivizzano, nephew of the Italian poet Labindo, to help his blind sister, while Turri, only improved Fantoni's machine and invented the carbon paper in 1806.