Archive

The Engineer gave a detailed report of both the engineering behind the bridge that began the architectural transformation of New York and the tragic circumstances of its construction.

May 1955 - The British motorsport industry

Stirling Moss’s victory in the Mille Miglia prompted The Engineer to indulge in some harsh criticism of the British motorsport sector

May 1912: The Titanic Inquiry

A letter to The Times from an eminent naval architect triggered a thoughtful article in The Engineer on compromise, risk and safety following the Titanic disaster

May 1937 - The Hindenburg disaster

The destruction of the Hindenburg brought the age of the airship to a shocking close. In 1937 The Engineer reported on the design and construction techniques behind this iconic aircraft.

A look inside the Dounreay Fast Reactor

The first images from inside the Dounreay Fast Reactor since it was constructed in the 1950s have been obtained. In 1955, The Engineer reported on the concepts behind the reactor, and how it was built to be safe — but not to be dismantled.

This week in 1965 - the Rover-BRM gas turbine car

This article from April 1965 reports on the Rover BRM Gas Turbine car, which was poised to become the first gas-turbine powered vehicle to officially compete in the Le Mans 24 hours race.

This week in 1902: the first armoured car

One of the earliest precursors to the tank may have resembled an upturned bathtub but it impressed the Edwardian Engineer nonetheless.

April 1884 - The great English earthquake

In April 1884 The Engineer was picking over the aftermath of one of the UK’s biggest ever seismic events: the great English earthquake.

April 1923: Wembley Stadium

The building of the original Wembley Stadium was a feat of — literally — military precision, including formation marching. It was also unthinkably fast by today’s standards, as Stuart Nathan explains.

This week in 1875: the Channel Tunnel

First proposed in 1802, then alternately rejected and resurrected over the course of the following two centuries, the Channel Tunnel was back on the agenda in 1875.

March 1869: The Tower Subway

Before Tower Bridge took its place on the London skyline, people had to go underground to cross the river. The Engineer described the construction of the now-forgotten Tower Subway, a forerunner of the modern deep-level Tube. Stuart Nathan reports

March 1959: Japan's first nuclear power station

The Engineer’s 1959 article on Japan’s first nuclear power station, is a poignant reminder of both the UK’s diminished expertise in this area, and the impact of the 2011 Fukushima crisis.

March 1963: The Windscale AGR

At the beginning of the Swinging 60s, The Engineer reported on the commissioning of the UK’s experimental gas-cooled nuclear reactor. Almost 50 years later, we were there when it became the first reactor to be fully decommissioned.

February 1857: Time for a change? Probably not

While always championing innovation, The Engineer hasn’t always been in favour of change for change’s sake — and it could be pretty scathing when the mood took it, as this mid-19th century review demonstrates

This week in 1961: shaping London's skyline

Feb 1961, and The Engineer took a look at the proposed design of a structure which has become one of London’s best-known landmarks: the building known today as the BT tower.

This month in 1955: the steam catapult

The Engineer reports on the first test of an important new technology: the steam catapult

Women engineers in the 1920s

January 1920. And the pages of The Engineer were ablaze with an ill-tempered debate on female engineers which illustrates dramatically how much industry - and The Engineer itself - has changed over the last century.

January 1880: The aftermath of the Tay Bridge Disaster

Immortalised in popular memory by a famously terrible poem, the collapse of the Tay Bridge in Scotland was a terrible event which caused almost palpable shock in TheEngineer

January 1863: London underground pioneer John Fowler

To mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the London Underground The Engineer looks back to 1863 and a speech given to mark the occasion by John Fowler, chief engineer on the first line.

December 1956: improving iron lungs

One of Britain’s most prominent automotive engineers turned his attention to allieviating the suffering of polio victims at the height of epidemics during the 1950s

November 1951 - The flight of the Princess

The history of British civil aircraft is dotted with magnificent failures. The industry’s ability to design awe-inspiring vehicles that didn’t make any money was in itself an impressive feat. This year saw the 60th anniversary of the launch of one of the most noteworthy blunders: the Princess flying boat.

October 1859 - Robert Stephenson's obituary

Just week’s after reporting on the death of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, The Engineer mourned the passing of another giant of British industry: Robert Stephenson.

September 1859 - Brunel's obituary

Revered today as one of Britain’s most iconic figures, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was viewed rather differently by many of his contempories, not least the premier engineering journal of the day

This month in 1960

Moonbounce experiments and Arthur C Clarke: our coverage of the beginnings of satellite telecommunications anticipates the launch of Telstar

July 1969, Apollo 11

Read The Engineer’s archive coverage of the technology behind the Apollo 11 mission

The history of The Engineer

This article from The Engineer’s 1956 Centenary edition tells the fascinating story of The Engineer’s first 100 years

This week in 1856

Our first issue gets caught up in a revolution then under way in printing technologies

This week in 1875

A device for cleaning train carriages is shown to be effective — easing the toils of manual labour

This Week in 1875

A device for cleaning train carriages is shown to be effective – easing the toils of manual labour

This week in 1899

Previous generation has some modern insight: The building of the Bankside power station put into focus how a new infrastructure should be established

This week in 1932

The fight against cavitation has a long history

This week in 1960

Submersible discovers mysteries of the deep

This week in 1877

British torpedo boats make waves abroad

This week in 1907

Novelty doors are an open-and-shut case

This week in 1882

Ice-cold beer proves to be engine for change

This week in 1957

A real blast from the past for the cern laboratory

Victorians have a very elegant sense of alarm

House fires were an ever-present threat in Victorian times and this article from the archives proposes an intriguing solution to the problem.

Energy-harvesting ships are a blast from the past

This week in… 1876

The world's first general purpose computer

Sixty years ago, the world’s first commercially-available computer took up a whole room

The steam-powered fire engine

Messrs Merryweather and Sons unveil the steam-powered fire engine

Building a spacecraft for a human mission to mars

A 1965 report from The Engineer details plans for a manned mission to Mars

Cross-channel train proposal thrown off track

The Channel Tunnel has had a chequered history, attracting equal amounts of criticism and praise since it was first proposed in 1802.

Setting sail on a sea of skills and ingenuity

The Glasgow Exhibition of 1888 was a triumph for a city proud of its art, science and industrial heritage. Its aim was to draw international attention to its achievements and succeeded in raising £43,000 for the local area.

A musical alliance

The Engineer hails an invention by M Dietz of Brussels “a triumph of mechanical skill applied to the art of music”.

Harrison's ice-making machine

This Week in 1861: Successful invention comes in from the cold

The Japanese Battleship Fuji

This Week in 1897: A naval foretaste of Japanese ingenuity

The birth of the roller-skate

By Katherine Pierce

With Britain facing a future of raised petrol prices it’s more than likely that the country and its drivers will turn to alternative and cheaper modes of transport. What better to meet their needs than the both efficient and charmingly old school roller skate?

This week in...1882

Shedding some light on commercial possibilities

The Napoleon III eye-glass

A novel telescope, developed for military use in 1857, was highlighted by The Engineer as having some interesting civil applications. Invented by M Porro, the Napoleon III eye-glass was designed to help determine the range of artillery and spy on distant objects.

Bell Rock Lighthouse