In 1809 Humphry Davy had made the first arclight by attaching a charcoal rod to each terminal of a Volta battery...

In this section we examine the limiting cases when T is very small (sudden change) and very large (adiabatic change).

In the next bed, I remember (there were at least a dozen beds crammed into a ward that should have held six), there was an old man so meagre, so cadaverous that his wristbones and the beak of his nose seemed to want to break through his skin.

This is Hammacher Schlemmer's nongadget catalogue, teeming with beautiful furnishings, rugs and clothing, much of it Arts and Crafts-inspired.