Description: Dr Alan Rudge, the then Head of the IEE and Managing Director of Procurement at British Telecom, introduces this 1993 lecture with a prediction that we now know to be spot-on: "the 21st century will be the age of information". What's more, Dr Rudge explains, it's the application of these information technologies by engineers that will be the foundation of everything that happens.

Presented by two young engineers, one of whom is sat at a 1990s computer station, this lecture is divided into two parts. The first part, on the speed of communication, begins in the year of Faraday's birth (1791), with messages passed via stage coaches through naval telegraph, going on to a fun demonstration of a manual shuttle board, the arrival of electricity and morse code. Alexander Graham-Bell's telephone, which built on the discoveries of Faraday, brings the first part of the lecture full circle.

The second part explores how different types of information are carried around the world, considering telephones calls, computer information, and live television, all of which use many different technologies. A highlight is a demonstration of a very early voice-recognition programme called Casper, which has so many steps to making a phone call that it would have been quicker to dial the number. But it certainly has early shades of Siri! Coupled with a Zoom-style video call, this early 1990s lecture really heralds the beginnings of the 21st century information technology boom.