Authorship controversy over the telegraph-- Wheatstone or Cooke? This account seems partisan to Cooke. Small appearance by IK Brunel on adjudicator panel (seriously did that guy ever sleep?) Haven't read through this, as it's peripheral to my researches.
this is great, a real look at the underbelly, if you'll pardon the expression, of 1848 London. Cholera outbreaks, natural-language interviews with everyone from doctors to engineers, what you paid a surveyor who was a 'good computer' .. wealth of stuff in here.
Fascinating report on the state of patent law and struggling to keep up with rapid technological change. Lots on the Jacquard loom.
William Rowan Hamilton Waxes Poetical