Iwan Rhys Morus

Professor of History, Aberystwyth University

Iwan Rhys Morus is professor of history at Aberystwyth University in Wales. He is the editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of Science (2017), and his most recent book is Nikola Tesla and the Electrical Future (2019).

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Written by Iwan Rhys Morus

Painting of Superman in various dynamic poses facing enemies and helping people. A blonde woman is observing with a large machine.

essay

Stories and literature

Supermensch

Superman et al were invented amid feverish eugenic speculation: what does the superhero craze say about our own times?

Iwan Rhys Morus

Painting of a night scene over water with beams of light from ships illuminating a floating vessel in the sky filled with stars.

essay

Future of technology

Fuelling the future

Fantasies about new power sources for human ambitions go back a century or more. Could these past visions energise our own future?

Iwan Rhys Morus

A painting of an old doctor using an electrical device on a distressed man’s knee while an assistant operates the machine in a cluttered room.

essay

History

Bodies electric

We are not the first to think that the human being might be much improved with the judicious application of electricity

Iwan Rhys Morus

Colourful 19th-century illustration depicting futuristic modes of transportation including hot air balloons, vacuum trains and mechanical horses.

essay

History

Future perfect

Social progress, high-speed transport and electricity everywhere – how the Victorians invented the future

Iwan Rhys Morus

Illustration of a man surrounded by various ghostly figures and creatures with the text “Professor Pepper’s Ghosts Exhibited & Explained Daily.”

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Art

Trick of the eye

Optical illusions such as magic lanterns taught the Victorians what to trust. What can they teach us today?

Iwan Rhys Morus