Discover some of the Victorian Era's most outlandish inventions—from the world-changing to the simply weird—in this look at nineteenth-century innovation. We all know that some of history's greatest inventions came about in the Victorian age. But in The Ingenious Victorians , John Wade goes beyond those famous advances to explore some of the weird and wonderful ideas and projects that have largely been forgotten. He also offers a new perspective on some of the era's well-known inventions by shedding light on how they emerged. Discover the fascinating true stories behind the world's largest glass structure; cameras disguised as bowler hats; the London Underground as a steam railway; safety coffins designed to prevent premature burial; unusual medical uses for electricity; the first traffic lights, which exploded a month after their erection in Westminster; and the birth and rapid rise to popularity of the cinema ... as well as many other ingenious inventions.