Fable: The Invention Which Boggled Minds
There was once an invention so startling that the glitterati of the scientific world dismissed it out of hand.
A UK Parliamentary Committee investigating the invention in 1878 reported that it was “…good enough for our transatlantic friends… but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men”.
Sir William Siemens, the first president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, said “such startling announcements as these should be deprecated as being unworthy of science and mischievous to its true progress”.
It turned out to be one of the greatest inventions of all time – used by everyone on the planet.