Progress and diffusion

The gold embossing on the book shows progress from early astrononomy to the steam engine with the words "Progress & Diffusion" printed on a ribbon. The book is "Handbook of Natural Philosophy" by Dionysius Lardner, D.C.L, formerly professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in University College, London. It was printed in 1856. In front of the book I placed a piece of dinosaur bone and a cell phone to indicate how far we have come.

There is a paragraph in the book I like to quote. I find it especially meaningful since I once worked in the communications industry and actually used a telegraph a bit.

The paragraph is in Chapter XV on Electro-Telegraphy:
"Of all the applications of electric agency to the uses of life, that which is transcendently the most admirable in its effects, and the most important in its consequences, is the electric telegraph. No force of habit, however long continued, no degree of familiarity, can efface the sense of wonder which the effects of this most marvellous application of science excite."