The Rise of Visual Communication

In the mid-19th century, advances in printing led to the mass replication of images: for the first time in human history, ordinary people could communicate about physical realities across distances using sight. This increased knowledge exchange led to rapid advances in science and technology. These three videos describe the transformation as seen in the works of William Ivins, Eugene Ferguson and others. The main examples are from the archives of Lukens Steel in the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, DE. These videos are also available, in an expanded version, at iTunes U.