In commemoration of the fiftieth year of the publication of the weekly edition of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, its publishers on July 25th, 1896, issued a memorial edition which forms a valuable resumé of the progress of science and invention during the past fifty years. Among the subjects treated are:
THE EFFECT OF INVENTION ON THE PEOPLE’S LIFE. THE PATENT SYSTEM. THE TRANSATLANTIC STEAMSHIP. RAILROADS AND BRIDGES. THE TELEGRAPH. PHYSICS. MEN OF PROGRESS. THE TEXTILE INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1846. THE SUBMARINE CABLE. FIFTY YEARS OF PHOTOGRAPHY. CHEMISTRY. THE PHONOGRAPH. THE PROGRESS MADE IN THE GENERATION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE OPERATION OF MOTORS DURING THE PAST FIFTY YEARS. THE AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE. THE BICYCLE. THE SEWING MACHINE. AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY. NAVAL AND COAST DEFENSE. FIFTY YEARS IN THE PRINTING BUSINESS. THE PRIZE ESSAY OF THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY NUMBER—“THE PROGRESS OF INVENTION DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS.” STEEL. DISTINGUISHED INVENTORS. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE IN FIFTY YEARS. THE TELEPHONE. FIFTY YEARS OF THE “SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.”
The number is fully illustrated and contains fifty pages. In it is printed “The Progress of Invention During the Last Fifty Years,” for which a prize of $250 was offered. It is interesting to note that this prize was won by Edward W. Byrn, the author of “The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.” Never before has so much valuable information of historical interest and importance been published in so condensed and popular a form. It forms a valuable addition to any library, and copies of the Anniversary Number can be supplied at 25 cents per copy.
MUNN & CO., Publishers,
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN OFFICE
361 Broadway, New York
Experimental Science.
By GEORGE M. HOPKINS.