A scientific revolution

The Victorians invented the idea of the future. They saw it as an undiscovered country, one ripe for exploration and colonization. And to get us there, they created a new way of ordering and transforming nature, built on grand designs and the mass-mobilization of the British Empire's resources.

In this rich and absorbing book, a distinguished historian of science tells the story of how the future was made. From Charles Babbage’s dream of mechanizing mathematics to Nikola Tesla’s visions of an electrical world, it is a story of towering personalities, clashing ambitions, furious rivalries and conflicting cultures—a rich tapestry of remarkable lives that transformed the world and ultimately took mankind to the Moon.

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