Material Gallery

Bakelite telephone

Bakelite telephone. Dial telephone with bakelite casing. Bakelite, the first plastic to be used for widespread commercial purposes, was discovered in the 1920s while the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland was researching synthetic varnishes in the USA. It is a thermosetting plastic (one that does not melt once it has been heated and set) and it is a good insulator. This made it the ideal material to use in electrical devices like telephones and radios

© VICTOR DE SCHWANBERG/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Christian Dior sketching a fashion design, 1948

In 1947 Christian Dior (1905-1957) created a sensational collection labelled the New Look. His designs centred around gowns with an 18 inch waist, which focused attention on the bust and hips. He paired the nipped in waist with a full skirt, using a large amount of material. These designs were seen as luxuriously extravagant because of the rationing that was still in force, following the Second World War. Dior developed his talents through a study of art which included painting, magazine illustration and European architecture

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10217445

Solar activity, SDO image C023/8088

Solar activity, SDO image. Coloured image of the surface of the Sun, showing one of an unusual series of eruptions that led to a series of fast puffs, which forced the slow ejection of a massive burst of solar plasma from the Sun's corona (outermost atmosphere). The puffs occurred roughly once every three hours. After around 12 hours, a much larger eruption of material began. Data, including that used to create this image, enabled scientists to conclude that the source of the puffs was a series of energetic jets and related flares - localised catastrophic releases of energy that spew material out from the Sun, into space. Imaged by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in three wavelengths of light, on 17th January 2013

© Alzate/SDO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY