Lawrence is known to many only as the war hero, but actually developed a passionate interest from a very young age in (especially military) history, as a small middle-class boy -actually a bastard, as he was to discover to Victorian horror, driving him into embarrassed isolation- which he pursued in brilliant archeology studies, producing a pioneering study of crusader castles, for which he visited and carefully surveyed nearly all known sites, mainly throughout the Ottoman empire, proving himself fluent in Arabic and knowledgeable in Oriental culture and religion. This experience made him a prime recruit for the British First World War effort, assigned to the Cairo-based 'Arab' bureau, Middle East intelligence, which detailed him with a single colleague to map the strategically vital Sinai desert, between Turkish provinces and the Anglo-Egyptian Suez canal, in a mere six weeks producing a scientifically amazing survey. Later he was charged with uniting the Arab tribes as allies against the repressive Turkish army in armed resistance, paying and concerting sheiks and leading the daring campaign trough the Nefud desert to take the Red Sea port of Aqaba from the nearly undefended land-side. He was marked by the experiences of having to execute an Arab to prevent a fatal feud and capture while spying by the Turks who gave the presumed deserter a shattering taste of abuse in every sense after which he was helped to escape. Realizing the Britsh and French governments has planned to divide the ex-Turkish Arab provinces after the war, he had to keep quit and felt betraying his Arab friends out of dutiful patriotism, uneasy till his death in a motorbike accident.
In 1575 the young self-taught Scottish instrument maker officially presents his steam engine for the English mining industry. It was the result of 18 years of tireless private research, wrestling with business debts and famous rival inventor Smeaton, who resorts to intrigues and sabotage. This episode also sketches modern use of the extremely important invention.