The new Royal Mail First Day
Cover collection is dedicated to Inventive Britain. Great Britain has a long
and proud history of developing world-changing innovations. The following
inventions represent just a small proportion of those created by British minds
in the fields of engineering, materials, technology and medical science.
Colossus (Tommy Flowers) – Based
at the GPO Research Station in Dollis Hill, Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers
worked on the development of a device that would speed up the process of
deciphering strategic communications sent between officials in Germany and army
commanders in the field during the Second World War. The first Colossus machine
was completed by December 1943 and more machines were later commissioned,
generating significant intelligence on German plans, especially in the run-up
to D-Day in June 1944. Colossus was later acknowledged as the world’s first
electronic computer.
World Wide Web (Tim Berners-Lee)
– During the 1980s, while working at CERN, the large particle physics
laboratory in Switzerland, British software engineer Tim Berners-Lee came to
realise that the Internet had the potential to host a data sharing system that
would enable scientists visiting CERN to share information more easily. By
1990, he had developed the technologies that form the basis of the World Wide
Web: protocols to define page location and allow page retrieval, and a computer
language to create and link the pages. The Web was made available to all, at no
cost, in 1993 and millions have since become users.
Catseyes (Percy Shaw) – In 1934,
road safety standards were set to change for ever, courtesy of Percy Shaw’s
exceptional innovation. ‘Catseye’ reflecting roadstuds comprise four glass
beads, each with a reflective coating applied, embedded within a rubber housing
encased in a cast-iron base. Simple, but ingenious, these night-time road
guides are fit for all weathers and their robust nature withstands even the
heaviest traffic. The flexibility of the rubber projects the reflectors by allowing
them to sink down inside the rubber when compressed, cleaning their surfaces in
the process by using the rainwater that collects in the metal base.
Fibre Optics (Kao and Hockman) –
Working at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories (STL), Harlow, in 1966
Charles Kao and George Hockman published results that first demonstrated the
potential of fibre-optic communication. Almost 50 years later, a network of
millions of kilometres of optical cables extends across the world, transmitting
data in vast quantities at incredible speeds. Each cable is made up of bundles
of optical fibres – very thin pipes of purified glass through which pulses of
laser light travel, carrying the digital information, Fibre – optic technology
has led to a digital revolution.
Stainless Steel (Harry Brearley) –
While conducting research into a steel for use in gun manufacturing that was
resistant to erosion, in 1913 Harry Brearley instead created a type of steel
that was resistant to corrosion, which he named ‘rustless steel.’ It is made
predominantly from iron, which gives it strength, but the addition of the metal
chromium – comprising at least 11 per cent by weight – makes steel become
‘stainless.’ A versatile metallic alloy with a suite of useful properties,
stainless steel is used in a vast array of products and structures, including
the smallest artificial heart valves and the tallest of buildings.
Carbon Fibre (William Watt) - Carbon
fibres are thin filaments that are incorporated into resin and baked to produce
a reinforced plastic that is much stronger and considerably lighter than metal.
Based at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in Farborough, in 1964 William
Watt and his team discovered that creating fibrous carbon from
polyarcrylonitrile (PAN) produced a composite material highly suitable for
structural use. Carbon fibre can be moulded into myriad shapes and is now used
in many machines and objects, such as wind turbines, commercial and military
aeroplanes, and Formula One cars.
DNA Sequencing (Frederick Sanger)
– Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the chemical code inside cells which bears the
instructions for synthesising the different protein molecules that are needed
to build humans, animals and plants. DNA is a long molecule made up of
individual building blocks, called nucleotides, arranged in a particular order
known as the DNA sequence were slow and labour-intensive, but in the 1970s
biochemist Dr Frederick Sanger devised pioneering DNA sequencing methods that
revolutionised later biological research.
i-Limb (David Gow) – Invented by
David Gow and launched in 2007, the i-limb is a revolutionary bionic hand with
a rotatable thumb and articulated fingers, each one individually powered by its
own miniature motor and gearbox. Users need only think about moving their hand
to send an electrical signal from their brain to contract the muscles in the
remaining portion of their arm. Electrical pulses from the muscles are then
captured by an electrode and sent to a computer inside the hand that triggers
the movement. Capable of a powerful grip as well as the lightest of touches,
the i-limb enables users to carry out a variety of everyday tasks.
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