Big Meeting for Big Minds
The ARVO 2012 show takes place next week, May 6-9. ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) is the world’s largest gathering of international eye and vision researchers. Coincidentally, today marks the anniversary of another great meeting of the minds, the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, the first in a series of exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century.
On May 1, 1851, the Great Exhibition opened to wide acclaim in the Crystal Palace in London. Inside the Crystal Palace, a giant glass-and-iron hall designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, more than 10,000 exhibitors set up eight miles of tables. Technological wonders from around the world were on display,
but the exposition was clearly dominated by Britain, the premier industrialized nation and workshop of the world at that time. Conceived by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, the Great Exposition was a rousing success, hosting 6 million visitors before it closed in October.
Exhibits came, not only from throughout Britain, but also its expanding imperial colonies, such as Australia, India and New Zealand, and foreign countries, such as Denmark, France and Switzerland. Numbering 13,000 in total, they included a Jacquard loom, an envelope machine, kitchen appliances, steel-making displays and a reaping machine that was sent from the United States. Other highlights included:
▪ The Koh-i-Noor, the world’s biggest known diamond at the time of the Great Exhibition.
▪ The early 8th-century Tara Brooch, discovered only in 1850, the finest Irish penannular brooch, exhibited by the Dublin jeweller George Waterhouse.
▪ Alfred Charles Hobbs used the exhibition to demonstrate the inadequacy of several respected locks of the day.
▪ Frederick Bakewell demonstrated a precursor to today’s fax machine.
▪ Mathew Brady was awarded a medal for his daguerreotypes.
▪ William Chamberlin, Jr. of Sussex exhibited what may have been the world’s first voting machine, which counted votes automatically and employed an interlocking system to prevent over-voting.
▪ Firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt demonstrated his prototype for the 1851 Colt Navy and also his older Walker and Dragoon revolvers.
▪ The Tempest Prognosticator, a barometer using leeches, was demonstrated at the Great Exhibition.
▪ The America’s Cup yachting event began with a race held in conjunction with the Great Exhibition.
▪ George Jennings designed the first public conveniences in the Retiring Rooms of the Crystal Palace, for which he charged one penny.
▪ Gold ornaments and silver enameled handicrafts fabricated by the Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar from Sindh.
▪ C.C. Hornung of Copenhagen, Denmark, showed his single-cast ironframe for a piano, the first made in Europe.
*****
We are pleased to announce that the University of Toronto conducted an independent analysis of M&S letter contrast testing with correlation to the Pelli-Robson standard. The Poster will be presented at ARVO 2012.
Please check out the poster and then stop by Booth #609 to see all our latest innovations for Smart System®.
Excerpted from This Day In History and Wikipedia.
Have a thought about this article? Contact Us and let us know.