Images of an engineer -- Alfred Nobel's prizes -- Henry Martyn Robert -- James Nasmyth -- On the backs of envelopes -- Good drawings and bad dreams -- Failed promises -- In context -- Men and women of progress -- Soil mechanics -- Is technology wired? -- Harnessing steam -- The Great Eastern -- Driven by economics -- The Panama Canal -- The Ferris wheel -- Hoover Dam -- The Channel Tunnel -- The Petronas towers.