author
Conrad William Cooke
1843–1926
An engineer and writer with a taste for curious machines, he is best remembered for Automata Old and New, a lively look at the history of self-moving mechanical wonders. His work sits at the crossroads of Victorian engineering, invention, and literary curiosity.
1 Audiobook
Automata Old and New
by Conrad William Cooke
About the author
Conrad William Cooke (1843–1926) was a British engineer and author known today mainly for Automata Old and New. Surviving catalog records also link him to shorter historical and scientific pieces, including writing on the physician William Gilbert, suggesting a strong interest in the history of science as well as mechanics.
Available reference material paints him as someone closely connected with the engineering world of late nineteenth-century Britain. His reputation now rests less on a large body of books than on a distinctive niche: explaining ingenious machines and the traditions of mechanical invention in an accessible, engaging way.
Reliable biographical detail about his personal life appears to be limited in the sources found for this overview, so some aspects of his background remain unclear. I was not able to confirm a suitable portrait image from the pages located, so no profile image is included here.