Perhaps the most common topic of conversation among the British is weather (these days of course it is economic recession and banking crisis). When I moan about not having enough sunlight during long autumn-winter a good friend of mine tells that the sun is always there only if you were high enough beyond the clouds. Though he says so jokingly, it is true that if you fly well above earth you can always see sun! Altitude does make difference. This is exactly what happened few days ago when I was sitting by the wall without window, the whole one side of the 19th floor room at Hilton in Manchester was made of glass. One could see many examples of technology from industrial revolution days to 21st century. Right below the hotel I could see Manchester Metrolink station Deansgate where two-three coach electric trains were passing by quietly.
Just near the station is a canal which reminded me of the importance of canals during the industrial revolution in 18th century England. Canal map of Britain makes a fascinating economic map because it was through canals that much of the coal, clay and other goods were transported from one place to another. They were equivalent of highways and railways in modern economies. Many industrial towns flourished around the canal network. Much of industrialisation in late 18th century would not have been as rapid as it happened in absence of an affordable and efficient transportation system that canals provided. Major impact of the first ever private canal built in 1759 was to reduce the price of coal by 50%. Coal was the main source of energy and the factories in Manchester needed lot of coal. The builder of the first canal Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton made a huge fortune from the canal idea borrowed by him from his trip to France. And as happens in free societies with free markets, there was rush of entrepreneurs to jump in canal business and by the year 1815 thousands of kilometres of canals crisscrossing British isles were constructed and in most cases investors got good returns from their investment in canal shares. But the emergence of railways driven by steam engines made canal business less profitable. Unsurprisingly there was huge rush for investment in railway company shares this time. Soon the railway network spread and competition from rail made canals economically unviable as mode of transport. But none the less it is noteworthy that in form of canals private sector provided fantastic transport infrastructure during the Industrial Revolution in England. But things change.. in 1947 the Labour government nationalised both the canals and the railways. But after 50 odd years another Labour government denationalised railways. Political ideologies change…These days canals are mostly used for leisurely activities and constitute a heritage industry.
In Manchester, UK you can not miss the historical context of the city and its association with textile industry revolution. About 300 yards from the hotel where I had gone to attend an academic conference, is Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). I had been to this museum many years ago, but with some time during the lunch break that day I couldn’t stop myself from walking over to peep once again into the history of technology and industrial revolution. By the time I returned to the hotel the history and the future had fused into my present thinking. This is what happened.
There are many departments in the museum which I will not describe here anyone interested can look them up by clicking at the link given below. I chose to go to the textile section. This is particularly interesting for me as I grew up in Ahmedabad, India which was famously known as Manchester of India because it housed more than 100 textile mills once upon a time. Indeed I had actually studied a declining textile industry all those years ago as an MBA student. Anyway, while I was passing through various exhibitions at the museum I came across an exhibition on textile fabrics of future. A Sri Lankan, Dr Tilak Dias of Material Sciences Department of Manchester University, was explaining in a short video programme the research that he and his team have been doing on the smart fabrics which will be made from fibres embedded with various sensors and microprocessors. The purpose had been to make garments that could monitor the changing condition of body during stress and other conditions so that vital changes to heart rate, blood pressure etc. are quickly reported and preventive measures can be taken by health professionals. Already smart garments are being marketed for sports people, heart patients, army personnel and so on. Imagine a smart dress that could control your body temperature. Or dress that could change the colour as the day wears on. One dress for sunny, wintry or wet weather! These are my imaginations but after watching the video on Dr Tilak’s research I think my imagination is not unrealistic. This is how when I went to see history but returned dreaming future textiles! Next time you are changing clothes think that few generations down the line that activity might be quite different! A fusion of history and future!
As I type this on my laptop, again I am reminded sitting in the library of Manchester Business School which is on the 5th floor overlooking several other buildings of Manchester University. Altitude matters! One of those buildings I distinctly remember because it is the building which I passed by everyday knowing that in that building on 21 June 1948 first stored computer programme was run! Few months ago in 2008 the 60th Anniversary of that first programme, appropriately called Baby, was celebrated. I encourage you to visit this site and find for yourself how big and different that computer looked in 1948. Also on this site can be seen the BBC’s TV news clip announcing the event in the year 1949 as following:
"Manchester University, where anyone who urgently wishes to know whether 2 to the power of 127 minus one is a prime number or not, can be given the answer by an electronic brain in 25 minutes instead of by a human brain in six months.”
25 minutes has now probably shrunk to 25 nanoseconds, but it was a giant leap in 1948.
Just near the station is a canal which reminded me of the importance of canals during the industrial revolution in 18th century England. Canal map of Britain makes a fascinating economic map because it was through canals that much of the coal, clay and other goods were transported from one place to another. They were equivalent of highways and railways in modern economies. Many industrial towns flourished around the canal network. Much of industrialisation in late 18th century would not have been as rapid as it happened in absence of an affordable and efficient transportation system that canals provided. Major impact of the first ever private canal built in 1759 was to reduce the price of coal by 50%. Coal was the main source of energy and the factories in Manchester needed lot of coal. The builder of the first canal Duke of Bridgewater, Francis Egerton made a huge fortune from the canal idea borrowed by him from his trip to France. And as happens in free societies with free markets, there was rush of entrepreneurs to jump in canal business and by the year 1815 thousands of kilometres of canals crisscrossing British isles were constructed and in most cases investors got good returns from their investment in canal shares. But the emergence of railways driven by steam engines made canal business less profitable. Unsurprisingly there was huge rush for investment in railway company shares this time. Soon the railway network spread and competition from rail made canals economically unviable as mode of transport. But none the less it is noteworthy that in form of canals private sector provided fantastic transport infrastructure during the Industrial Revolution in England. But things change.. in 1947 the Labour government nationalised both the canals and the railways. But after 50 odd years another Labour government denationalised railways. Political ideologies change…These days canals are mostly used for leisurely activities and constitute a heritage industry.
In Manchester, UK you can not miss the historical context of the city and its association with textile industry revolution. About 300 yards from the hotel where I had gone to attend an academic conference, is Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). I had been to this museum many years ago, but with some time during the lunch break that day I couldn’t stop myself from walking over to peep once again into the history of technology and industrial revolution. By the time I returned to the hotel the history and the future had fused into my present thinking. This is what happened.
There are many departments in the museum which I will not describe here anyone interested can look them up by clicking at the link given below. I chose to go to the textile section. This is particularly interesting for me as I grew up in Ahmedabad, India which was famously known as Manchester of India because it housed more than 100 textile mills once upon a time. Indeed I had actually studied a declining textile industry all those years ago as an MBA student. Anyway, while I was passing through various exhibitions at the museum I came across an exhibition on textile fabrics of future. A Sri Lankan, Dr Tilak Dias of Material Sciences Department of Manchester University, was explaining in a short video programme the research that he and his team have been doing on the smart fabrics which will be made from fibres embedded with various sensors and microprocessors. The purpose had been to make garments that could monitor the changing condition of body during stress and other conditions so that vital changes to heart rate, blood pressure etc. are quickly reported and preventive measures can be taken by health professionals. Already smart garments are being marketed for sports people, heart patients, army personnel and so on. Imagine a smart dress that could control your body temperature. Or dress that could change the colour as the day wears on. One dress for sunny, wintry or wet weather! These are my imaginations but after watching the video on Dr Tilak’s research I think my imagination is not unrealistic. This is how when I went to see history but returned dreaming future textiles! Next time you are changing clothes think that few generations down the line that activity might be quite different! A fusion of history and future!
As I type this on my laptop, again I am reminded sitting in the library of Manchester Business School which is on the 5th floor overlooking several other buildings of Manchester University. Altitude matters! One of those buildings I distinctly remember because it is the building which I passed by everyday knowing that in that building on 21 June 1948 first stored computer programme was run! Few months ago in 2008 the 60th Anniversary of that first programme, appropriately called Baby, was celebrated. I encourage you to visit this site and find for yourself how big and different that computer looked in 1948. Also on this site can be seen the BBC’s TV news clip announcing the event in the year 1949 as following:
"Manchester University, where anyone who urgently wishes to know whether 2 to the power of 127 minus one is a prime number or not, can be given the answer by an electronic brain in 25 minutes instead of by a human brain in six months.”
25 minutes has now probably shrunk to 25 nanoseconds, but it was a giant leap in 1948.
Some relevant links:
Manchester Museum of Science and Industry link
More about Dr. Tilak Dias and his innovations in textile
If you want to see actual news item in black and white TV of 1949 click here.
Find out about Baby, the first ever stored programme that was run go to multimedia and take an interactive tour of the Baby
Document about first ever stored programme run in 1948
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Indeed I also remember having seen on some educational channel a whole documentary on how a dress would literally make a person appear as transparent, something like anil kapoor in the movie Mr. India. How it worked to the best of my understanding was that on your back would be innumerable micro-cameras and the front of the dress would be the reflector of the image captured from the back so instead of you being visible the dress would show all those images on your back that would get hidden since your body is opaque!!amazing...but yes the limitation of this can be that you'd be invisible only from one side...
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