A
A Summer Place, Theme From 5
Accidentals (musical) 2, 9
Acidity 38
Acoustics
for deterrence 68
for shaping food 6
spurious application of 33
see also sound
Acts of God 29, 46
Adapters
electric vehicles, and 64
miscellaneous 58
Aerosmith 54
Affordances 23
Air quality 27, 36, 46
Air travel
runway incursions 7
Lindbergh Field, incident at 61
Alfred Lord Tennyson (calf) 59
Allegories 16, 17, 40, 49, 60, 69
Aluminum 34, 36, 40, 50, 55, 56, 58, 61, 62, 63
Alphabets 62, 69
American Fur Company 35
Anagrams 17, 63
Anderthalb (instrument) 53
Animal welfare
Hund-Störer 6
knockknobblers 29
rat catchers 29
sonic deterrents 68
Andes 13
Anti-Gaulinites 55
Antiquity
Bronze Age 24
Greece, Classical 34, 67
Neoclassicism 24
and Romanticism 33
Shang dynasty 24
see also medievalism
Apherus, the ferryboat captain (constellation) 67
Apocalypse, Four Horsemen of 56
Apparel
neckties, coloration of 7
seamstresses, typewriters for 29
Archicembalo 9
Architecture
Larkin Administration Building 66
Woolworth Building 12
Aristotle 4
Army Signal Corps, United States 7
Arpòdigon (keyed pipe harp) 18
Art of Noises, The 63
Artificial heart 59
Ash (wood) 2, 31, 68
Assaying machines 35
Astor, John Jacob 35
Astrology, reform of 67
Astronomy
Mars, secret messages from 62
Merchant Shipping Act of 1864 67
nasa 3
Neptune, discovery of 67
Planet Suite (Buxtehude) 2
Standard Time Act of 1918 25
time zones 25
Uranus, discovery of 67
see also space, ufo cults
Audio tape
as cryptographic medium 10
as recording medium 28
Austria 2, 70
Autochandler 7
Automobiles 8, 23, 58, 64
Automated muselar 2
Away in a Manger, versions of 18
B
Bach, Johann Sebastian 26
Baden-Powell, Agnes 11
Baden-Powell, Robert 11
Bakelite 4, 32, 48, 51, 52
Baldwin, James 6
Ballistics 45, 63
Balsa wood 7
‘Barn door’ effect 43
Bats 68
Batteries 41, 58, 64
Beech (wood) 26, 42
Beekeeping 11
Bells
ceremonial ringing of 4
domestic customs regarding 24
morbid fear of 31
Berlin 6
Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz 54
‘Big Red’ 3
Biomass 5
Birds 7, 31
Blacksmiths and Trappers War of 1860 35
Board games 38
Bores 29, 68
Boston, Massachusetts 33, 57
Boxwood 2, 47, 54
Brass
material 13, 14, 15, 31, 33, 35, 42, 49, 51, 52, 57, 70
morbid fear of 31
Brewer, Justice David J. 69
Bronze 39
Brotherhood of the Seven Rays 62
Brougham (carriage) 23
Buckboard wagon 23
Buxtehude, Dieterich 2
C
Cadmium sulfide 36
Caesar, Julius 65
Calcium carbonate deposit 8
Calendars
end date of universe, calculated 56
formatting of dates 56
Gregorian and Julian 65
missing days from 1582 and 1752 65
Standard Time Act of 1918 25
California 5, 40, 43, 56
Calling cards 15, 45
Cameras 34, 40
Candles 7
Carabiners 50
Carbon composite 50
Carbon dating 56
Cardboard 5, 7
Carnegie, Andrew 69
Carriage bridles 23
Cassette tapes 28
Catalogs 11
Catchpoles 29
Celadon 24
Celestial Benevolence Welcome Center 62
Celluloid (material) 7, 8, 13, 18, 24, 43
Century bells 30
Ceramics 8, 24, 27, 38, 41
Chainmail 19
Chalceia 20
Charles III, King of Spain 39
Cheap Trick (band) 54
Chemicals
barium titanate 38
cadmium sulfide 36
calcium carbonate 8
cobalt oxide 1
cobalt sulfate 36
mercury sulfide 36
polyethylene 7, 10, 34
polyphenylene Sulfide 16
sodium bicarbonate 19
sodium sulfate 36
sulfur dioxide 36
trinitrotoluene 9
see also plastics
Chiang Kai-Shek 38
Chladni, Ernst 6
Christ, Jesus 39
Christmas
music 18
trees 20
Chromatic telegraph 7
Chromaticism
musical 2, 9, 42, 70
visual 7
Circum Musicis 70
Civil Rights Act (1964) 52
Clarion (planet) 62
Clavichordi sex partes 70
Clavicordium circularis 42
Clay 13
Click track 28
Clocks 31
Cloth 1, 39
Cobalt oxide 1
Cobalt sulfate 36
Codes 10, 12, 57
Codex 1
Codicils 4
Coffee
houses 6
scales 44
wholesalers, typewriters for 29
Coins
assaying 35
for machine operation 3
Cold War 10, 34, 44, 56, 61
Color
atmospheric 36
candles 7
cocktail umbrellas 7
crayons 7
heavy metal pigmentation 36
incorrect identification of 61
military transmission of 7
minerals 13
neckties 7
plumage 7
political associations using 52
prosthetic eyes 7
religious symbolism 39
representational 5
ribbon 7
smoke 7
yellow, morbid fear of 31
Color offset exchange market 36
Colt, Samuel 45
Commedia dell’arte 53
Commerce 38, 64
Communications systems
psychic 62
wired 24
wireless 7
Communist Manifesto, The 44
Compact Disc 28
Compression
air 19
audio 28
barometric 46
of information 10
of tires 46
Composers
Bach, Johann Sebastian 26
Buxtehude, Dieterich 2
Couperin, François 2
des Prez, Josquin 70
Haydn, Franz Joseph 53
Haydn, Michael 53
Korngold, Erich 18
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 53
Nielsen, Rick 54
Russolo, Luigi 63
Sainte-Colombe, M. de 2
Steiner, Max 18
Concrete 56
Conflicts
Blacksmiths and Trappers War 35
Cold War 10, 34, 44, 56, 61
First Opium War 49
Siege of Turkish Adrianople 63
World War II 34, 48
see also rivalries
Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage 52
Connecticut 45
Consultants 69
Contraguitar 54
Copper 24, 35, 38, 42, 45, 47, 56, 57
Cornwall, England 24
Coromandel 13
Cosmology 62
Couperin, François 2
Cosmic Circle of Fellowship 62
Courtship rituals
calling cards and 15
creepy 11
symbolic tokens in 22
Crayons 7
Cross-dissolve effect 43
Croupiers 29
Cryptography 10
Cube Power 66
Cuckoo clocks 31
Cycling 50
Cyrillic Alphabet 62, 69
Czech Republic 47
D
Daguerrotypists 29
Damariscotta River Estuary 8
Decalcomania 15
Dee, John 62
Dehomogenization 55
Denmark 68
Depth perception 39
Derailleurs 50
Des Prez, Josquin 70
Desk accessories 45
Dewey, Melvil 69
Dictionaries 29, 69
Dioramas 5
Disasters at sea 29
Doomsday prophecies 56
Doppia spinetta 26
Dragon lyre 47
Droste Effect 56
Duck (fabric) 18
Dutch Air Machines 27
E
Easter 65
Ebony 53, 54, 70
Echolocation in humans 4
Education
board games and 38
public system, rise of 18
Elam’s Ending-State Energy System 37
Elantra, the chariot (constellation) 67
Electricity
alternating current, opposition to 55
batteries, 18th century 41
bells, implication for 24
electric vehicles 64
generation of 5
necrotic tissue, stimulation with 17
public call boxes 57
Electrification
in England 24
in the United States 64
Electrolytes 50
Electroplating 19
Elevators 12
Elm 31
Embroidery
and neckties 7
steganographic uses of 10
Emerson, Harrington 69
Endurance, human 4
England 1, 19, 24, 48, 49, 67
Anglicanism, challenges to 67
colonialism 49
estate system, dissolution of 24
labor, mobility of, 19th century 24
linguistic purity movement 67
men’s suffrage movement 67
Equal Pay Act (1963) 52
Erys, the murderess (constellation) 67
Eschatons 56
Espionage 10, 46, 61
Etiquette 15
‘Exquisite Corpse’ 63
Eyes
ophthalmology, typewriters for 29
prosthetic, colors of 7
F
Fair Labor Standards Act 52
Fair Pay Act (1994) 52
Fairbanks, Alaska 32
Famine 27
Fascism 63
Fasteners
for potato chip bags 51, 52
T-seal 32
Federal Bureau of Investigation 61
Film
audio tracks 10
editing 43
foley work 40
stock 40
transition machines 43
Fire
alarms 57
Great Fire of 1842 (Hamburg) 41
engines, steering of 23
Firearms 45
First Opium War 49
Five senses 4
Food
cocktails 7
fondant 6
glögg 50
low-sodium diets 36
meringue 6
milk, homogenization of 55
pastry dough 6
potato chips 51, 52
seltzer 19
shaping of 6
wartime rationing 48
Footfalls 40
Folk music 9
Fort Benning 25
Four-in-hand (vehicle) 23
Four Sonatas for Violin and Viola (Haydn) 53
France 11, 50, 54
Fringe movements
alternating current, opposition to 55
milk, dehomogenization of 55
doomsday prophecies 56
see also ufo cults
‘Froggy’ 3
Freshness dating 51
Fruitwood 2, 9, 65
Fugenmaschine 70
Fusion power 5
Futurism 63
Fyr, the winged boar (constellation) 67
G
Galalith (material) 1
Galen of Pergamon 27
Games
board games 38
poker 10
treasure hunt 49
see also sports
Gas
as fuel 64
gaslight 13
hazardous 46
pressurized 19
Gasogene 19
Gaulin, August 55
Gender pay gap 52
Geothermal power 5
Germany 3, 6, 20, 31
Gibson A14 (ticket machine) 3
Gifts 22, 39
Gilbert, Cass (architect) 12
Girl Scouts 11
Gittern 47
Glass
borosilicate 17, 37
Bohemian vs. Venetian 39
capsule 41
chromatic impurities in 39
display cases 51, 64
harmonicas, maker of 35
indicator windows 3, 24, 44, 48, 56
keys 1, 3
mercury glass 13
optical 14, 16, 34, 43
tubing 62
Glögg 50
Godzilla 46
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 6
Gold 45, 49, 69
Golgotha 13
Goncalo-alves (wood) 67
Gothic Revival 12
Gralddur, the gatekeeper (constellation) 67
Grant, Ulysses S. 30
Great Fire of 1842 (Hamburg) 41
Gregorian calendar 65
Gregory XIII, Pope 65
Gutta-percha 1, 4, 41
H
Haenir, the stag (constellation) 67
Haenox, the grasshopper (constellation) 67
Harpsichord 2
Haydn, Franz Joseph 53
Haydn, Michael 53
Hearing 4, 6
Heart
artificial 59
machines shaped like 60
Heltraum, the logger (constellation) 67
Hephæstus 20
Hexagons 11
Historical idiom
see antiquity, medievalism
Hitchcock, Alfred 40
Hoaxes 8, 13, 49, 63
Holidays
Chalceia 20
Christmas 18, 20
Easter 65
National Wheel Week 42
New Year’s Day 25, 26, 30, 70
New Year’s Eve 25, 30
Valentine’s Day 59, 60
Holy Roman Empire 2
Hong Kong 49
Hooke’s Room-Ring System 24
Horn
in prophesy 56
material 2, 33
musical instrument 33
Hornbostel-Sachs classification 47
Horses
horsehair, as material 13
horsemen, of Apocalypse 56
‘Horsey Horseless,’ daftness of 23
Humidity 4, 46
Hund-Störer 6
Hungarian (language) 61
Hunger 4
Hurdy-gurdy 9, 70
Hydroelectric power 5
Hydrogen maser oscillation 56
Hyphus and Vestra, the dancers (constellation) 67
I
iatse 40
Ice skating 10
Impurity
of air 27, 36, 46
of glass 39
of language 67
of water 46
Infatuation 4, 11
Ink
calling cards, and 15
dried, as a material 13
for tattoos 10
Instruments (musical)
archicembalo 9
arpòdigon (keyed pipe harp) 18
circum musicis 70
clavichordi sex partes 70
clavicordium circularis 42
contraguitar 54
doppia spinetta 26
dragon lyre 47
fugenmaschine 70
gittern 47
glass harmonica 35
gramophone 18
guitar 54
harpsichord 2
hurdy-gurdy 9, 70
intertonos 70
intonarumori 63
muselar 2
Musikalischer Wunderschrank 33
pipe organ 33
polyharmonia 26, 70
quarter muselar 26
omnisymphonium 9, 70
orchestralon 26, 70
recorder 26
rotae exitium 26
synthesizer 9, 33, 70
tres-sonos 9, 70
TX-8 28
vihuela 47
viola da gamba 26
viola della cooperazione 54
virginal 2
vocoder 28
zither 18
Instruments (optical) 14, 16, 34, 39, 43
Intelligence
artificial 16, 17, 40, 60
declassified 10, 61
extra-terrestrial 62, 66
Intertonos 70
Intonarumori 63
Ireland, Ward Stone 69
Iron 1, 6, 12, 35, 39, 57, 60
Italy 63
Ivory 2, 9, 13, 22
L
Labor
fair pay 52
mobility of, in 19th century England 24
measurements, disputes surrounding 35
Women’s Social and Political Union 52
Lacquer
and gilding 18, 47
japanning 3
vernis martin 9
Landells, Ebenezer (publisher) 49
Language
and pedagogy 18
reform movements 67, 69
translation errors 44, 61
Larkin Administration Building 66
Latin (language) 12
Lead (metal) 56
Law enforcement
catchpoles 29
Federal Bureau of Investigation 61
police band radio 46
Legal proceedings
Forgách v. Mirvins 40
iatse v. Koenig 40
Mayhew and Landells, avoidance of 49
United States v. Boyd Jephson 62
Legislation
British Museum Act of 1839 49
Civil Rights Act (1964) 52
Equal Pay Act (1963) 52
Fair Labor Standards Act 52
Fair Pay Act (1994) 52
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2009) 52
London Sky Signs Act of 1891 67
Merchant Shipping Act of 1864 67
Paycheck Fairness Act (1997) 52
Standard Time Act of 1918 25
Leipziger Straßenbahn 3
Leyden Jars 41
‘Liebchen’ model 552 1
Light
capturing of 34
polarization, sensitivity to 4
Lighthouse keepers 29
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (2009) 52
Linen 1
Liver of Sulfur 23
London 19, 22, 34
London Sky Signs Act of 1891 67
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 21
Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green 29
Lord of the Rings, The 62
Los Angeles 5, 40
Louis XIV 24
Lyon 11
M
‘M’ (pseudonym) 4
Magnetism
human sensitivity to 4
in illusion 13
and perpetual motion 37
Mahogany 2, 26, 67
Maine 8
Manchester, England 48
Mansplaining 68
Maple (wood) 18, 30, 53, 54, 68, 70
Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso 63
Mars, communication with 62
Mary, Virgin 39
Mathematics 11, 38, 56
Mayhew, Henry (publisher) 49
Mechanical snowflakes 21
Médaillons-Secrets 22
Medievalism
Gothic Revival movement 12
Lord of the Rings, The 62
musical traditions 33, 47
Old Norse religion 67
see also antiquity
Medium density fiberboard (mdf) 5
Mein Gott, er ist ganz Daumen! (Bach) 42
Mentalists 29
Merchant Shipping Act of 1864 67
Mercia, Kingdom of 13
Mercury sulfide 36
Meringue 6
Metre Convention of 1875 35
Microdots 10
Milk 55
Minnesota Territory 35
Mirrors
illusions, use in 13
morbid fear of 31
Mississippi 3
‘Model 3A’ 3
‘Model 5A’ 3
‘Model P’ 1
Mollusks 8
Moravia, Margraviate of 47
More, Sir Thomas 62
Mormonism 62
Morris, William 67
Mosquitos
domestication of 34
‘Mosquito tone’ 68
Motets 70
Moth, Greater Wax 68
Mother-of-pearl 18
Mountains
Andes 13
Mont Blanc Massif 50
Olympus 20
Mouse (animal) 68
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus 53
Multimodality
Esserscope 14
radio/popcorn synchrony 14
taxiscope 34
Museums
Children’s Museum of Los Angeles 5
Imperial Lard Museum 48
Museum of Fairbanks Food Sciences 32
Muselar 2
Musical compositions
A Summer Place, Theme From 5
Anderthalb, compositions for 53
Away in a Manger, versions of 18
Four Sonatas for Violin and Viola (Haydn) 53
Mein Gott, er ist ganz Daumen! (Bach) 42
Mille regretz (des Prez) 70
Missa De dadi (des Prez) 70
New Year’s Cantata (Bach) 26
Planet Suite (Buxtehude) 2
String Duo No. 2 in B♭ Major for Violin and Viola (Mozart) 53
Musick-Cabinet 33
N
Narcotics
opium 4
peyote 13
nasa 3
National Preservative Pipeline 48
Nebraska Territory 35
Necromancy 17, 38
Neoclassicism 24
Neon 17, 37, 62
Neptune, discovery of 67
Netherlands 27, 41
New Jersey 4, 7, 17
New Year’s Devices 25
New Year’s Cantata by Bach 26
New York 12, 18, 29, 46, 66
Nickel 7, 12, 14, 16, 17, 28, 30, 34, 37, 50, 58, 63, 69
Nielsen, Rick 54
Nile, expeditions to 34
Nikolaevskaya Railway 3
Nixon, Richard M. 44
Notation Standard du Plumage (nsp) 7
nsa 10
Nuclear power
and Soviet Union 56
for electricity generation 5
Three-Mile Island reactor 5
Nylon 50
O
Oak 9, 33, 42, 65
Oenus, the manticore (constellation) 67
Oil Crisis of 1979 5
Olympics, 1960 Winter 10
omega radio system 25
Omnisymphonium 9
Opium
addiction 4
First Opium War 49
Optical instruments 14, 16, 34, 39, 43
Orchestralon 26
Oregon Territory 35
Organs
artificial 59
musical 33
Orientalism 34, 69
Ornithology 7
Orthographic Reform 62, 69
Outhouses, discoveries in 47
Oxford, University of 11
Oyster farming 8
Ozokerite wax 13
P
Paper
catalog 11
continuous 1, 57
fan-fold 10
giftwrap 7
packaging 32
parts 5, 63
paperweights 45
papier-mâché 13
phenolic 38
tape 1, 57
wax 51
Pastry dough 6
Patents
Cleland, ‘Century Bells’ 30
Colt, ‘Patent Office Equipment’ 45
Fresh-Topp Electric Smelting Co. 32
Gaulin, homogenization of milk 55
Melsbach, ‘Herz Maschinen’ 60
Nansensu, ‘TX-8 Audio Processor’ 28
Smith, ‘Horsey Horseless’ 23
Swaine-Underhay, ‘Calling Card Blotting Press’ 15
Tunnicliffe, ‘Patent Great Northern’ 1
Patterns
arabesque 39
produced using sound 6
secret messages in 12
Paycheck Fairness Act (1997) 52
‘Peacemaker’ 3
Pedagogy 18, 38
Pencil 11
Perpetual motion 37
Persistence 4
Pewter 12, 45
Phoenix-7 59
Pipe
musical 18, 33
transportation 48
Phenix City, Alabama 25
Philco (company) 32
Phlebotomy 29
Phobias
bee stings 9
cuckoo clock therapy 31
Piatti, Ugo 63
Pine 13
Pittsburgh 32
Planets
Clarion 62
Mars 62
Neptune 67
Uranus 67
Planet Suite (Buxtehude) 2
Plaster 7, 13, 49
Plastics 3, 14
acrylic 38, 40, 66
abs (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) 7, 10, 34, 68
dehp (Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate 50
pen (polyethylene naphthalate) 58
polycarbonate 36, 64
polyethylene 7, 10, 34
polyphenylene sulfide 16
polypropylene 61, 66
polystyrene 38
tpu (thermoplastic polyurethane) 58
Poetry 21
Poker chips 10
Polarized light, sensitivity to 4
Pollution 36
polvad 59
Polyester 37
Polyharmonia 26, 70
Polyphony (musical) 9, 33
Poplar 2
Porcelain 8, 24, 60
Porpoise, Harbor 68
Portugal 69
Powell, Baden 11
Priestley, Joseph 19
Printers and printing
dot-matrix 10
printing telegraphs 1
ribbons, of 7
stereoscopic printing press 39
ticket-printing systems 3
Proprioception 4
Prostitution 4
Psychics 4, 62
Psychology 31, 38
Public Broadcasting System 5
Public transportation 3
Punch magazine 49
Punctuation 30
Purity
of air 27, 36, 46
of glass 39
of language 67
of water 46
Pyramid Power 66
R
Rademacher, Leopoldus 2, 9, 26, 42, 70
Radiation
decay 56
detection 46
Radio
conelrad 46
omega radio system 25
Philco (company) 32
police band 46
synchronized with popcorn 14
Railroads
collisions 25
efficiency of 69
gandy dancers 29
Nikolaevskaya Railway 3
signalmen 29
ticket-printing systems 3
Rationing
of explosives 19
of marmalade 48
Recorder (instrument) 26
Remington (typewriter maker) 29
Religious movements
Third Great Awakening 30
Tractarianism 67
Revelation, Book of 56
Rhode Island 30
Ribbon 1, 7
Ringtones 68
Rivalries 53, 68
Rock climbing 50
‘Romanov’ 3
Romanticism 33
Roosevelt, Teddy 69
Rotae exitium 26
Royal Air Force 34
Royal Hussars 47
Royal Palace, Madrid 39
Rubber 37, 44
Rulers (leaders)
of cults 62
emperors 2, 9, 26, 42, 70
heads of state 30, 35, 44, 67
monarchs 24, 39, 66
religious 65
Rulers (measuring devices) 10, 11
Russia 3, 10
Russolo, Luigi 63
Rydberg Constant 56
S
Sachs-Hornbostel classification
see hornbostel-sachs classification
Sackbut 33
Safety
fire alarm systems 57
monitoring systems 46
Sainte-Colombe, M. de 2
Salzburg 70
San Diego, California 61
Sanskrit 62
Satan, imprisonment of 56
Satinwood 67
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duke of 31
Scales
musical 2, 9, 42, 70
vernier 44
Scent 10
Scientists
Chladni, Ernst 6
Dee, John 62
Gaulin, August 55
Powell, Baden 11
Priestley, Joseph 19
Wigner, Eugene 14
Schultheiss-Bleier process 6
Scudder, Laura 51, 52
Seasons
Spring 65
Summer 27, 31
Winter 10, 20, 21
Seltzer makers 19
Seltzogene 19
Sexual orientation 15
Sexy baby voice 68
Shaw, George Bernard 62
Shorthand 69
Siege of Turkish Adrianople 63
Silversmithing 22
Shang dynasty 24
Shell companies 8
Skaldyr, the spiny lobster (constellation) 67
Skeumorphism 23
Skywriting 7
Smith
Aero 54
Black 35
Corona 29
Silver 22
Uriah 23
Smoke, color of 7
Snack-O-Matic 32
Snowflakes 21
Sodalite (mineral) 13
Sodium sulfate 36
Soames, Olave 11
Soap 10
Sodium bicarbonate 19
Solar power 5
Soul, human 17
Sound
audio processing 28
as cryptographic medium 10
foley work 40
high-frequency 6
Noises, The Art of 63
timbre 9, 70
tonality 4, 9, 42, 70
visual patterns created by 6
volume control 58
in worship 30
see also audio
Soviet Union 10, 34, 44, 56, 61
Space
Clarion (planet), messages from 62
Mars, communication with 62
space tourism 3
see also astronomy, ufo cults
Spain 39
Spelling reform 69
Spice trade 38
Spiritualism 12, 13, 29, 38
Sports, winter
ice skating 10
Olympics, 1960 Winter 10
skiing, snowboarding 50, 58
see also games
Springs
for bag clips 51, 52
for quick-ejection systems 45
for staff call bells 24
for wheel mechanisms 57
Spruce 47, 53, 54
Staff call bells 24
Standard Plumage Notation 7
Standard Time Act of 1918 25
Steel 3, 10, 15, 16, 17, 31, 34, 35, 36, 39, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 51, 52, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 69, 70
Steganography 10
Steiner, Max 18
Stennis Space Center 3
Stenography 69
Stereoscopy 39
String Duo No. 2 in B♭ Major for Violin and Viola (Mozart) 53
Stuttgart 3, 6
Suffrage
men’s, in Great Britain 67
women’s, in United States 52
Sulfur
dioxide 36
liver of 23
Superposition, theory of 14
Swap machines 64
Sweden 16
Switzerland 53
Symbols
in courtship 11
divine symbology of the c.b.w.c. 62
undecipherability of 4
T
Tape
audio 10, 28
cassette 10, 28
paper 1, 57
Tartaric acid 19
Tattoos 10
Taxiscope 34
Telegraphy
color 7
and fire alerts 57
‘good fist’ 12
printing 1
Television 5
Temperature 4, 27, 46
Thirst 4
3-d movies 39
Three-Mile Island nuclear reactor 5
Ticket Machines 3
Time
calendars, misalignment of 65
distant future, events in the 4
end of universe, calculated 56
formatting of dates 56
machines 13
Merchant Shipping Act of 1864 67
missing days from 1582 and 1752 65
response times and fire alarms 57
Standard Time Act of 1918 25
zones 25
Times of London 11
Tin 1, 13, 24, 25, 41, 55, 60
Tissue, necrotic 17
Tortoiseshell 26
tnt 19
Traege, the beetle (constellation) 67
Transcendentalism 4
Travel 34
Treasure hunting 49
Tres-sonos 9, 70
Tungsten 56
Tutankhamun 66
Twain, Mark 69
Twelve-tone scale 9
Twilight Zone, The 61, 62
Tyler, John (US president) 35
Tympanic membrane 4
Typewriters 1, 8, 29, 69
Typhus 27
U
u-2 (spy plane) 61
ufo Cults
Brotherhood of the Seven Rays 62
Celestial Benevolence Welcome Center 62
Cosmic Circle of Fellowship 62
Pyramid Power 66
Umbrellas, cocktail 7
United Fruit Company 35
Units of measure
for sentencing demons 56
disputes surrounding 35, 56, 65
Droste Effect 56
for firehouses 57
ounces 44
for precious metals 35, 65
metre, definition of 35
for real estate 65
seconds 56
Upanishads 62
Uppsala, Sweden 16
Upspeak 68
Uranus, discovery of 67
V
Vacuum
seals 32, 44
tubes 61
Vending machines 64
Venice 39
Vihuela 47
Viola da gamba 26
Viola della cooperazione 54
Virginal (instrument) 2
Vitali, Giovanni Battista 54
Voboam, Alexandre 54
Vocal fry 68
Vocoder 28
Voice
actors 40
digital processing 28
sexy baby-like 68
in six parts 70
vocal fry 68
Volcanic eruptions 27, 46
W
Walnut (wood) 26, 31, 33, 35, 42, 45
Wartime rationing meters 48
Washington, dc 10
w. c. of g. h. m. of p. & o. 35
Weather 46
wgbh/Boston 5
Whalebone 9
Wheels
musical instruments, shaped like 42
National Wheel Week 42
spring-loaded 57
steering mechanisms 23
Wigner, Eugene 14
Wind power 5
Women’s Social and Political Union 52
Woolworth Building 12
World War II 34, 48
Wright, Frank Lloyd 66
Writers
Baldwin, James 6
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 6
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 21
Shaw, George Bernard 62
Wunderschrank 33
X
Xanadu 13
Y
Yakovlev, Zenaida (speed skater) 10
About
The objects in the Apocryphal Inventions series are technical chimeras, intentional misdirections coaxed from the generative AI platform Midjourney. Instead of iterating on the system’s early drafts to create ever more accurate renderings of real-world objects, creator Jonathan Hoefler subverted the system to refine and intensify its most intriguing misunderstandings, pushing the software to create beguiling, aestheticized nonsense. Some images have been retouched to make them more plausible; others have been left intact, appearing exactly as generated by the software. The accompanying descriptions, written by the author, offer fictitious backstories rooted in historical fact, which suggest how each of these inventions might have come to be.
These images represent some of AI’s most intriguing answers to confounding questions — an inversion of the more urgent debate, in which it is humanity that must confront the difficult and existential questions posed by artificial intelligence.