Design07
Typography04
Architecture07
Objects08
Technology08
Photography05
Film05
Music05
Internet Oddities04
Design05
Typography02
Architecture04
Objects06
Technology09
Photography07
Film04
Music05
Internet Oddities06
Design09
Typography04
Architecture03
Objects11
Technology05
Photography04
Film04
Music05
Internet Oddities04
Design09
Typography06
Architecture05
Technology09
Photography02
Film02
Music04
Internet Oddities10
Design
Typography
Architecture
Objects
Technology
Photography
Film
Music
Internet Oddities
Design
Typography
Architecture
Objects
Technology
Photography
Film
Music
Internet Oddities
Design
Typography
Architecture
Objects
Technology
Photography
Film
Music
Internet Oddities
Design
Typography
Architecture
Technology
Photography
Film
Music
Internet Oddities
Braun T3 · 1958
Braun T3
Dieter Rams · 1958
Pocket radio · plastic, perforated aluminium
Braun SK 4 · 1956
Braun SK 4
Dieter Rams & Hans Gugelot · 1956
Radio-phonograph · sheet steel, elm, acrylic
606 Universal Shelving S… · 1960
606 Universal Shelving System
Dieter Rams · 1960
Shelving · powder-coated aluminium, steel
Braun ET 66 · 1987
Braun ET 66
Dieter Rams & Dietrich Lubs · 1987
Pocket calculator · ABS plastic
Valentine · 1969
Valentine
Ettore Sottsass & Perry King · 1969
Portable typewriter · ABS plastic
Lettera 22 · 1950
Lettera 22
Marcello Nizzoli · 1950
Portable typewriter · enamelled steel
Tizio · 1972
Tizio
Richard Sapper · 1972
Desk lamp · die-cast aluminium, halogen
Helvetica · 1957
Helvetica
Max Miedinger & Eduard Hoffmann · 1957
Typeface · specimen
Futura · 1927
Futura
Paul Renner · 1927
Typeface · printed specimen
Johnston Sans · 1916
Johnston Sans
Edward Johnston · 1916
Typeface · enamel station roundel
Inscription, Trajan's Co… · 113 AD
Inscription, Trajan's Column
Unknown stonecutter · 113 AD
Carved marble
Barcelona Pavilion · 1929
Barcelona Pavilion
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe · 1929
Building · travertine, onyx, chrome, glass
Farnsworth House · 1951
Farnsworth House
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe · 1951
House · steel, glass, travertine
Casa Malaparte · 1937
Casa Malaparte
Adalberto Libera & Curzio Malaparte · 1937
House · red-washed masonry, Capri
Nakagin Capsule Tower · 1972
Nakagin Capsule Tower
Kisho Kurokawa · 1972
Building · 140 prefabricated steel capsules, Tokyo
Palace of Assembly · 1962
Palace of Assembly
Le Corbusier · 1962
Building · béton brut, Chandigarh
IIM Ahmedabad · 1974
IIM Ahmedabad
Louis Kahn · 1974
Campus · load-bearing brick, Ahmedabad
Barbican Estate · 1982
Barbican Estate
Chamberlin, Powell and Bon · 1982
Estate · pick-hammered concrete, London
Lounge Chair 670 · 1956
Lounge Chair 670
Charles & Ray Eames · 1956
Chair · moulded plywood, leather, aluminium
Barcelona Chair · 1929
Barcelona Chair
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe & Lilly Reich · 1929
Chair · chromed flat steel, leather
Wassily Chair · 1925
Wassily Chair
Marcel Breuer · 1925
Chair · bent tubular steel, canvas
Anglepoise 1227 · 1935
Anglepoise 1227
George Carwardine · 1935
Desk lamp · steel, springs, Bakelite
Leica M3 · 1954
Leica M3
Ernst Leitz GmbH · 1954
Rangefinder camera · brass, chrome, vulcanite
Moka Express · 1933
Moka Express
Alfonso Bialetti · 1933
Coffee maker · cast aluminium, Bakelite
Casio F-91W · 1989
Casio F-91W
Casio · 1989
Digital watch · resin, LCD
Lamy 2000 · 1966
Lamy 2000
Gerd Alfred Müller · 1966
Fountain pen · brushed Makrolon, steel
Apple iPod · 2001
Apple iPod
Jony Ive · 2001
Music player · polycarbonate, stainless steel, 5 GB
iMac G3 · 1998
iMac G3
Jony Ive · 1998
Computer · translucent Bondi Blue polycarbonate
Macintosh 128K · 1984
Macintosh 128K
Jerry Manock & Terry Oyama · 1984
Computer · beige ABS, 9-inch CRT
Xerox Alto · 1973
Xerox Alto
Xerox PARC · 1973
Computer · portrait CRT, three-button mouse
Game Boy · 1989
Game Boy
Gunpei Yokoi · 1989
Handheld console · grey ABS, reflective LCD
ThinkPad 720C · 1993
ThinkPad 720C
Richard Sapper · 1993
Laptop · matte black, red TrackPoint
Nokia 3310 · 2000
Nokia 3310
Nokia · 2000
Mobile phone · polycarbonate, monochrome LCD
The first web server · 1990
The first web server
Tim Berners-Lee · 1990
NeXTcube with a hand-written label
Migrant Mother · 1936
Migrant Mother
Dorothea Lange · 1936
Gelatin silver print · Nipomo, California
The Horse in Motion · 1878
The Horse in Motion
Eadweard Muybridge · 1878
Albumen print · twelve cameras, tripwires
Boutique Journaux, Rue d… · c. 1910
Boutique Journaux, Rue de Sèvres
Eugène Atget · c. 1910
Albumen print · Paris
Urformen der Kunst · 1928
Urformen der Kunst
Karl Blossfeldt · 1928
Photogravure · plant forms at 30× magnification
Pale Blue Dot · 1990
Pale Blue Dot
Voyager 1 · 1990
Photograph · from 6 billion kilometres
Metropolis · 1927
Metropolis
Boris Bilinsky · 1927
Lithograph poster
Man with a Movie Camera · 1929
Man with a Movie Camera
Dziga Vertov · 1929
Film still · 68 minutes, no intertitles
A Trip to the Moon · 1902
A Trip to the Moon
Georges Méliès · 1902
Film still · hand-painted set
Pather Panchali · 1955
Pather Panchali
Satyajit Ray · 1955
Film still · Bengal
Cinématographe · 1895
Cinématographe
Auguste & Louis Lumière · 1895
Camera, printer and projector in one · walnut, brass
Roland TR-808 · 1980
Roland TR-808
Ikutaro Kakehashi · 1980
Drum machine · analogue circuits, faulty transistors
Technics SL-1200 · 1972
Technics SL-1200
Technics · 1972
Turntable · direct drive, die-cast aluminium
OP-1 · 2011
OP-1
Jesper Kouthoofd · 2011
Synthesiser · anodised aluminium, OLED
Walkman TPS-L2 · 1979
Walkman TPS-L2
Nobutoshi Kihara · 1979
Cassette player · aluminium, blue & silver
Voyager Golden Record · 1977
Voyager Golden Record
Carl Sagan et al. · 1977
Gold-plated copper disc · cover with etched instructions
Utah Teapot · 1975
Utah Teapot
Martin Newell · 1975
Ceramic teapot · the original, and every render since
Stanford Bunny · 1994
Stanford Bunny
Greg Turk & Marc Levoy · 1994
3D scan · 69,451 triangles, from a terracotta rabbit
Comic Sans · 1994
Comic Sans
Vincent Connare · 1994
Typeface · designed for a cartoon dog
Toy Building Brick, US 3… · 1958
Toy Building Brick, US 3,005,282
Godtfred Kirk Christiansen · 1958
Patent drawing · the tube-and-stud clutch
View from the Window at… · 1827
View from the Window at Le Gras
Nicéphore Niépce · 1827
Heliograph · bitumen on pewter plate
Boulevard du Temple · 1838
Boulevard du Temple
Louis Daguerre · 1838
Daguerreotype
Self-portrait · 1839
Self-portrait
Robert Cornelius · 1839
Daguerreotype
Tartan Ribbon · 1861
Tartan Ribbon
James Clerk Maxwell & Thomas Sutton · 1861
Three-colour projection · red, green, blue plates
Hand mit Ringen · 1895
Hand mit Ringen
Wilhelm Röntgen · 1895
Radiograph · the hand of Anna Bertha Röntgen
Earthrise · 1968
Earthrise
William Anders · 1968
Photograph · 70mm Hasselblad, Ektachrome
First flight, Kitty Hawk · 1903
First flight, Kitty Hawk
John T. Daniels · 1903
Photograph · glass plate negative
Roundhay Garden Scene · 1888
Roundhay Garden Scene
Louis Le Prince · 1888
Film · 2 seconds, paper negative
Kinetoscope · 1891
Kinetoscope
William Dickson · 1891
Peep-show viewer · wooden cabinet, 35mm film loop
L'Arrivée d'un train en… · 1896
L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
Auguste & Louis Lumière · 1896
Film · 50 seconds, single take
The Great Train Robbery · 1903
The Great Train Robbery
Edwin S. Porter · 1903
Film · 12 minutes, hand-tinted
The 42-line Bible · 1455
The 42-line Bible
Johannes Gutenberg · 1455
Movable metal type on vellum and paper · two columns, 42 lines
Times New Roman · 1932
Times New Roman
Stanley Morison & Victor Lardent · 1932
Typeface · serif, for newsprint
Jacquard loom · 1804
Jacquard loom
Joseph Marie Jacquard · 1804
Loom attachment · chain of punched cards
Difference Engine No. 2 · 1849 · built 1991
Difference Engine No. 2
Charles Babbage · 1849 · built 1991
Mechanical calculator · 8,000 bronze and steel parts, 5 tonnes
ENIAC · 1945
ENIAC
J. Presper Eckert & John Mauchly · 1945
Electronic computer · 17,468 vacuum tubes, 27 tonnes
Point-contact transistor · 1947
Point-contact transistor
John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & William Shockley · 1947
Germanium, gold foil, a paper clip and a plastic wedge
Intel 4004 · 1971
Intel 4004
Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff & Stanley Mazor · 1971
Microprocessor · 4-bit, 2,300 transistors, 16-pin ceramic package
The first mouse · 1964
The first mouse
Douglas Engelbart & Bill English · 1964
Prototype · carved wood, two metal wheels, one button
Altair 8800 · 1975
Altair 8800
Ed Roberts · 1975
Microcomputer kit · Intel 8080, toggle switches, LEDs
IBM Simon Personal Commu… · 1994
IBM Simon Personal Communicator
Frank Canova · 1994
Mobile phone · touchscreen, stylus, 1 hour of battery
Apollo Guidance Computer · 1966
Apollo Guidance Computer
MIT Instrumentation Laboratory · 1966
Flight computer and DSKY · 2 KB RAM, core rope memory woven by hand
Chair No. 14 · 1859
Chair No. 14
Michael Thonet · 1859
Bent beechwood · six pieces, ten screws, two nuts
Red and Blue Chair · 1918
Red and Blue Chair
Gerrit Rietveld · 1918
Painted beech and plywood
Regency TR-1 · 1954
Regency TR-1
Texas Instruments & I.D.E.A. · 1954
Transistor radio · four transistors, moulded plastic
Sholes and Glidden Type-… · 1874
Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer
Christopher Latham Sholes · 1874
Typewriter · decorated in the style of a sewing machine
Smiley · 1963
Smiley
Harvey Ball · 1963
Button badge · yellow, two dots, a curve
Benz Patent-Motorwagen · 1886
Benz Patent-Motorwagen
Karl Benz · 1886
Three-wheeled automobile · single-cylinder engine, 0.75 hp
Ford Model T · 1908
Ford Model T
Henry Ford · Childe Harold Wills · 1908
Automobile · vanadium steel, any colour so long as it's black
Brownie · 1900
Brownie
Frank A. Brownell · 1900
Box camera · cardboard, leatherette, one meniscus lens
Ur-Leica · 1914
Ur-Leica
Oskar Barnack · 1914
Prototype camera · 35mm cine film, 24×36mm frame · shown: its first photograph, the Eisenmarkt in Wetzlar, 1914
Carbon-filament lamp · 1879
Carbon-filament lamp
Thomas Edison · 1879
Incandescent lamp · carbonised bamboo filament in an evacuated glass bulb
Rover Safety Bicycle · 1885
Rover Safety Bicycle
John Kemp Starley · 1885
Bicycle · two equal wheels, chain drive to the rear
The Crystal Palace · 1851
The Crystal Palace
Joseph Paxton · 1851
Cast iron and 293,000 panes of glass · prefabricated, built in five months
Home Insurance Building · 1885
Home Insurance Building
William Le Baron Jenney · 1885
Ten storeys · steel and iron frame, Chicago
Eiffel Tower under const… · 1888
Eiffel Tower under construction
Gustave Eiffel · Maurice Koechlin · 1888
Wrought iron · 18,038 pieces, 2.5 million rivets
Fagus Factory · 1911
Fagus Factory
Walter Gropius & Adolf Meyer · 1911
Shoe-last factory · glass curtain wall, no corner columns
Tinfoil phonograph · 1877
Tinfoil phonograph
Thomas Edison · 1877
Brass cylinder, tinfoil, a needle and a horn
Theremin · 1920
Theremin
Léon Theremin · 1920
Electronic instrument · two antennas, played without touching
Moog modular synthesizer · 1964
Moog modular synthesizer
Robert Moog · 1964
Voltage-controlled modules, patch cords, keyboard
Fender Telecaster · 1950
Fender Telecaster
Leo Fender · 1950
Solid-body electric guitar · ash, bolt-on maple neck
Fairlight CMI · 1979
Fairlight CMI
Peter Vogel & Kim Ryrie · 1979
Digital sampler and workstation · light pen, green screen
Tennis for Two · 1958
Tennis for Two
William Higinbotham · 1958
Analogue computer and oscilloscope · two controllers with a knob and a button
Spacewar! · 1962
Spacewar!
Steve Russell · 1962
Program · 9 KB of paper tape, running on a $120,000 computer
Pong · 1972
Pong
Allan Alcorn · 1972
Arcade cabinet · two paddles, one ball, instructions: avoid missing ball for high score
Trojan Room coffee pot · 1991
Trojan Room coffee pot
Quentin Stafford-Fraser & Paul Jardetzky · 1991
Webcam · 128×128 greyscale, one frame every few minutes
The first computer bug · 1947
The first computer bug
Grace Hopper's team · 1947
A moth, taped into a logbook · 'First actual case of bug being found'
Sputnik 1 · 1957
Sputnik 1
Sergei Korolev · OKB-1 · 1957
Satellite · polished aluminium sphere, 58 cm, four antennas
Bic Cristal · 1950
Bic Cristal
Marcel Bich · Décolletage Plastique · 1950
Ballpoint pen · hexagonal polystyrene barrel, tungsten carbide ball
Fiskars O-series scissors · 1967
Fiskars O-series scissors
Olof Bäckström · 1967
Stainless blades, orange ABS handles
Polaroid SX-70 · 1972
Polaroid SX-70
Edwin Land · Henry Dreyfuss · 1972
Folding SLR instant camera · brushed chrome, tan leather
Kikkoman soy sauce dispe… · 1961
Kikkoman soy sauce dispenser
Kenji Ekuan · 1961
Glass bottle, red plastic cap with two spouts
Chemex coffeemaker · 1941
Chemex coffeemaker
Peter Schlumbohm · 1941
Borosilicate glass, wooden collar, leather tie
Casio G-Shock DW-5600 · 1983
Casio G-Shock DW-5600
Kikuo Ibe · 1983
Digital watch · resin case, floating module, 200 m water resistance
Citroën 2CV · 1948
Citroën 2CV
Flaminio Bertoni & André Lefèbvre · 1948
Small car · corrugated bonnet, canvas roof, two cylinders
Vespa · 1946
Vespa
Corradino D'Ascanio · 1946
Motor scooter · pressed-steel monocoque, engine at the back
Brompton · 1976
Brompton
Andrew Ritchie · 1976
Folding bicycle · brazed steel, 16-inch wheels, folds in twenty seconds
Opinel No. 8 · 1890
Opinel No. 8
Joseph Opinel · 1890
Folding knife · carbon steel blade, beechwood handle, twist lock
Swiss Army knife · 1897
Swiss Army knife
Karl Elsener · 1897
Folding multi-tool · stainless blades, red cellidor scales
Leatherman · 1983
Leatherman
Tim Leatherman · 1983
Pocket multi-tool · stainless steel, folding pliers · the PST of 1983 and everything since
Zippo · 1933
Zippo
George G. Blaisdell · 1933
Windproof lighter · brass, chrome, cotton, flint
Stanley 99E · 1936
Stanley 99E
Stanley Works · 1936
Retractable utility knife · die-cast zinc, replaceable trapezoid blade
Maglite · 1979
Maglite
Anthony Maglica · 1979
Flashlight · machined aluminium, knurled grip, adjustable beam
Nalgene bottle · 1949
Nalgene bottle
Nalge Company · 1949
Wide-mouth bottle · polyethylene, later polycarbonate, tethered cap
Duct tape · 1942
Duct tape
Vesta Stoudt · Johnson & Johnson · 1942
Cloth-backed pressure-sensitive tape · polyethylene coating
Post-it Note · 1974
Post-it Note
Spencer Silver & Art Fry · 1974
Paper, a glue that doesn't quite work
Gem paper clip · 1890s
Gem paper clip
Gem Manufacturing · 1890s
One piece of steel wire, bent twice
Land Rover Series I · 1948
Land Rover Series I
Maurice Wilks · 1948
Utility vehicle · aluminium body on a box-section chassis
IBM Selectric · 1961
IBM Selectric
Eliot Noyes · 1961
Electric typewriter · golf-ball typing element, no moving carriage
HP-35 · 1972
HP-35
Hewlett-Packard · 1972
Scientific calculator · 35 keys, red LED display, reverse Polish notation
IBM Model M · 1985
IBM Model M
IBM · 1985
Keyboard · buckling-spring switches, PBT keycaps, 2 kg
PalmPilot · 1996
PalmPilot
Jeff Hawkins · 1996
Handheld · 160×160 touchscreen, stylus, Graffiti handwriting
Slide rule · 1622 · 1859
Slide rule
William Oughtred · Amédée Mannheim · 1622 · 1859
Logarithmic scales on wood, bamboo or aluminium, with a sliding cursor
Hasselblad 500C · 1957
Hasselblad 500C
Victor Hasselblad · Sixten Sason · 1957
Medium-format SLR · modular, interchangeable backs, Zeiss lenses
Nikon F · 1959
Nikon F
Masahiko Fuketa · 1959
35mm SLR · titanium shutter, interchangeable everything
Rolleiflex · 1929
Rolleiflex
Reinhold Heidecke · 1929
Twin-lens reflex · 6×6 on 120 film, waist-level finder
Kodak Tri-X · 1954
Kodak Tri-X
Eastman Kodak · 1954
Black-and-white negative film · ISO 400, in a yellow box
Fender Stratocaster · 1954
Fender Stratocaster
Leo Fender · George Fullerton · Freddie Tavares · 1954
Electric guitar · contoured alder body, three pickups, tremolo
Shure SM58 · 1966
Shure SM58
Ernie Seeler · 1966
Dynamic vocal microphone · steel grille, cardioid
Akai MPC · 1988
Akai MPC
Roger Linn · 1988
Sampling drum machine · sixteen rubber pads, swing quantise · the MPC60 of 1988, here the 2000XL
Yamaha DX7 · 1983
Yamaha DX7
John Chowning · Yamaha · 1983
Digital synthesizer · FM synthesis, 61 keys, membrane buttons
Koss Porta Pro · 1984
Koss Porta Pro
Koss Corporation · 1984
On-ear headphones · folding steel headband, foam pads, blue and silver
Bolex H16 · 1935
Bolex H16
Jacques Bogopolsky · 1935
16mm cine camera · spring-wound, three-lens turret
Arriflex 35 · 1937
Arriflex 35
August Arnold & Robert Richter · 1937
35mm cine camera · reflex mirror shutter, hand-holdable
Steadicam · 1975
Steadicam
Garrett Brown · 1975
Camera stabiliser · sprung arm, vest, counterbalanced sled
Clapperboard · 1930s
Clapperboard
F. W. Thring · 1930s
Slate, hinged stick, chalk or marker
Linotype machine · 1884
Linotype machine
Ottmar Mergenthaler · 1884
Hot-metal typesetter · 90-key keyboard, brass matrices, molten lead
Composing stick · 16th century
Composing stick
Unknown · 16th century
Steel, with an adjustable knee · holds a few lines of metal type
Letraset · 1959
Letraset
Dai Davies · 1959
Dry-transfer lettering · type on a plastic sheet, rubbed off with a burnisher
Type case · 17th century
Type case
Unknown · 17th century
Wooden tray of compartments, sized by how often each letter is used
Shipping container · 1956
Shipping container
Malcom McLean · Keith Tantlinger · 1956
Corrugated steel box · 20 or 40 feet, twist-locks at the corners
Quonset hut · 1941
Quonset hut
George A. Fuller Company · 1941
Prefabricated building · corrugated steel over a semicircular frame
Airstream Clipper · 1936
Airstream Clipper
Wally Byam · 1936
Travel trailer · riveted aluminium monocoque
Rubik's Cube · 1974
Rubik's Cube
Ernő Rubik · 1974
Puzzle · 26 plastic cubelets on a hidden spherical core
EUR-pallet · 1961
EUR-pallet
European railways · 1961
Eleven boards, nine blocks, seventy-eight nails · 800 × 1200 mm
Traffic cone · 1940
Traffic cone
Charles D. Scanlon · 1940
Moulded rubber, later PVC · orange, weighted base
Cable tie · 1958
Cable tie
Maurus C. Logan · 1958
Nylon strap with a ratchet head · one way only
Descriptive Map of Londo… · 1889
Descriptive Map of London Poverty
Charles Booth · 1889
Street map · seven colours, from black (lowest class, vicious) to gold (wealthy)
ISO 216 · A series · 1922
ISO 216 · A series
Walter Porstmann · 1922
Paper sizes · ratio 1:√2, A0 is one square metre
Munsell colour system · 1905
Munsell colour system
Albert H. Munsell · 1905
Colour order system · hue, value, chroma, as a lopsided tree
Swiss railway clock · 1944
Swiss railway clock
Hans Hilfiker · 1944
Station clock · red second hand shaped like a signalling paddle
Farbenkreis · 1809
Farbenkreis
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1809
Watercolour · a colour wheel with the qualities of the mind written on it
Van de Graaf canon · 1946 · 1953
Van de Graaf canon
J. A. van de Graaf · Jan Tschichold · 1946 · 1953
Page construction · diagonals only, no measurements
Emergency exit sign · 1979
Emergency exit sign
Yukio Ota · 1979
Pictogram · green, a figure running through a door
International Code of Si… · 1857
International Code of Signals
British Board of Trade · 1857
Forty flags · twenty-six letters, ten numerals, four substitutes
Symbol Signs · 1974
Symbol Signs
Roger Cook & Don Shanosky · AIGA · 1974
Fifty pictograms · public domain
Braille · 1824
Braille
Louis Braille · 1824
Tactile alphabet · six dots in a cell, 63 combinations
International Morse Code · 1848
International Morse Code
Samuel Morse · Alfred Vail · Friedrich Gerke · 1848
Dots and dashes · the commonest letters get the shortest codes
DIN 1451 · 1931
DIN 1451
Deutsches Institut für Normung · 1931
Typeface · drawn on a grid, for road signs and engineering drawings
Hunminjeongeum · 1443
Hunminjeongeum
King Sejong · 1443
Alphabet · 28 letters, shaped after the mouth making the sound
Rosetta Stone · 196 BC
Rosetta Stone
Priests of Memphis · 196 BC
Granodiorite · one decree in hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek
Transport · 1957
Transport
Jock Kinneir & Margaret Calvert · 1957
Typeface and signage system · white on blue, green, black
QWERTY · 1873
QWERTY
Christopher Latham Sholes · 1873
Keyboard layout · arranged so the typebars wouldn't jam
ASCII · 1963
ASCII
American Standards Association · 1963
Character encoding · 128 codes in seven bits
UPC barcode · 1974
UPC barcode
George Laurer · Norman Woodland · 1974
Bars and spaces · 12 digits, first scanned on a packet of chewing gum
QR code · 1994
QR code
Masahiro Hara · 1994
Two-dimensional barcode · the three squares are so a camera finds it at any angle
Punched card · 1890 · 1928
Punched card
Herman Hollerith · 1890 · 1928
Card · 80 columns, 12 rows, one corner cut so you can't load it backwards
Von Neumann architecture · 1945
Von Neumann architecture
John von Neumann · 1945
Diagram · memory, control, arithmetic, input, output
ARPANET logical map · 1977
ARPANET logical map
Bolt Beranek and Newman · 1977
Diagram · every computer on the internet, on one sheet
Antikythera mechanism · c. 100 BC
Antikythera mechanism
Unknown Greek workshop · c. 100 BC
Bronze gears in a wooden box · at least thirty of them, hand-cut
Chappe telegraph · 1792
Chappe telegraph
Claude Chappe · 1792
Optical telegraph · a beam and two arms on a tower, one tower every ten miles
Carte figurative des per… · 1869
Carte figurative des pertes de l'armée française
Charles Joseph Minard · 1869
Flow map · the width of the line is the number of men
Cholera map of Soho · 1854
Cholera map of Soho
John Snow · 1854
Street map · one black bar per death, stacked at the door
Diagram of the causes of… · 1858
Diagram of the causes of mortality
Florence Nightingale · 1858
Polar area diagram · a wedge per month, the area is the dead
Periodic table · 1869
Periodic table
Dmitri Mendeleev · 1869
Manuscript table · with gaps left for elements not yet found
Feynman diagram · 1948
Feynman diagram
Richard Feynman · 1948
Notation · straight lines are matter, wavy lines are light, time goes left to right
Pioneer plaque · 1972
Pioneer plaque
Carl Sagan · Frank Drake · Linda Salzman Sagan · 1972
Gold-anodised aluminium · 15 × 23 cm, bolted to a spacecraft
Arecibo message · 1974
Arecibo message
Frank Drake · Carl Sagan · 1974
Radio message · 1,679 bits, which is 23 × 73, both prime, so it can only be a grid one way
Voynich manuscript · c. 1420
Voynich manuscript
Unknown · c. 1420
Vellum · 240 pages, an unknown script, plants that don't exist
Snellen chart · 1862
Snellen chart
Herman Snellen · 1862
Eleven rows of letters, each five units high, on a grid of squares
International Prototype… · 1889
International Prototype Metre
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures · 1889
Platinum-iridium bar, X-shaped section · the metre, until 1960
Pianta Grande di Roma · 1748
Pianta Grande di Roma
Giambattista Nolli · 1748
Engraved map · twelve sheets, public space in white, private in black
Vitruvian Man · c. 1490
Vitruvian Man
Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1490
Pen and ink · a man in a circle and a square, with notes in mirror writing
Villa Rotonda, plan · 1570
Villa Rotonda, plan
Andrea Palladio · 1570
Woodcut from I quattro libri dell'architettura · a circle in a square, four identical fronts
Commissioners' Plan · 1811
Commissioners' Plan
John Randel Jr. · 1811
Survey map · 155 streets, 12 avenues, no squares, no curves
Plan for the Eixample · 1859
Plan for the Eixample
Ildefons Cerdà · 1859
Plan · octagonal blocks, chamfered corners, gardens in the middle
Circle of fifths · 1679 · 1728
Circle of fifths
Nikolai Diletsky · Johann David Heinichen · 1679 · 1728
Diagram · twelve keys on a clock face, neighbours share all but one note
Guidonian hand · c. 1030
Guidonian hand
Guido of Arezzo · c. 1030
Mnemonic · every note of the scale on a joint of the left hand
Maelzel metronome · 1815
Maelzel metronome
Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel · Johann Maelzel · 1815
Pyramid of wood · a clockwork pendulum with a sliding weight
Tuning fork · 1711
Tuning fork
John Shore · 1711
Steel · two prongs and a stem, struck, rings at one pitch
SMPTE colour bars · 1978
SMPTE colour bars
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers · 1978
Test signal · seven bars of decreasing luminance, a pluge at the bottom
Zoetrope · 1834
Zoetrope
William George Horner · 1834
Drum with slits · a strip of drawings inside, spun
Photographs of British A… · 1843
Photographs of British Algae
Anna Atkins · 1843
Cyanotype · the specimen laid on the paper and exposed to the sun
18% grey card · 1940s
18% grey card
Kodak · 1940s
Card · reflects 18% of the light that hits it