The invention of the damper-pedal in the pianoforte epitomizes the difference between polyphony and symphonic art, for it is the earliest device by which sounds are produced and prolonged in a way contrary to the spirit of "real" part-writing.

The invention of the railroad was a milestone in the history of transportation.

Briggs was greatly excited by Napier's invention and visited him at Merchiston in 1615, staying with him a whole month; he repeated his visit in 1616 and, as he states, "would have been glad to make him a third visit if it had pleased God to spare him so long."

Every day in imagination I made a trip round the world, and I saw many wonders from the uttermost parts of the earth--marvels of invention, treasuries of industry and skill and all the activities of human life actually passed under my finger tips.

Ztg., 1815, May, p. 309, the first announcement of the invention in a paragraph by Captain G.