The Visual Time Traveller | 500 Years of History, Art and Science

1838

American guns and the Trail of Tears

1673

Antonio van Leewenhook uses powerful lenses to build microscopes and observes bee mouth parts and stings. Two years later he is the executor of Jan Vermeer’s will.

WATCH VIDEO

1607

Hamlet is performed aboard the East India Company ship Red Dragon while anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.

WATCH VIDEO

1838

American guns and the Trail of Tears

WATCH VIDEO

1673

Antonio van Leewenhook uses powerful lenses to build microscopes and observes bee mouth parts and stings. Two years later he is the executor of Jan Vermeer’s will.

WATCH VIDEO

1607

Hamlet is performed aboard the East India Company ship Red Dragon while anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.

WATCH VIDEO

WELCOME

The Visual Time Traveller is a unique creative endeavour. A visually arresting book by Alison Hackett and published by 21st Century Renaissance. The book is built around 500 years of History, Art and Science interpreted in 100 Unique Designs and is a breathtaking journey for the reader.

The book is available to buy on this site and there is a special edition version available also.

This site is designed to introduce you to the book, the concept and the author. We have created some video content for you to enjoy that will provide you with a unique insight into the making of the book with critical narrative from the author

The Water Music is performed on the Thames

Buy your copy now and journey through the ages...

Don’t just take our word for it here are some comments from happy customers, we look forward to including yours

“I hope that more libraries have the good fortune to experience Alison and her fascinating book.”

Karen Wall, Director Mystic and Noank Library, Connecticut, U.S.

“Not only is she [Alison Hackett] forced to share a small city with da Vinci, he has even turned up in the same postal district.”

The Irish Times

“Alison Hackett reverses science into cultural history to gather it to herself, to construct a lens with which to explain the world, in a way that is at once fragmented, modern and alive.”

Architecture Ireland

“This is a labour of love, insanity, beauty and, perhaps, an attempt to reintegrate history, art and science together again.”

Irish Tech News

“An endearing kaleidoscopic view of history and human achievement.”

CARA (Aerlingus inflight) Magazine

“A beautiful, breathtaking account of human endeavour.”

Sunday Independent

“But that was only a hint of the ferment of ideas in Alison’s head. To express them more fully she founded a group called 21st Century Renaissance: dedicated to no less a thing than reviving the spirit of the original Renaissance.”

The Irish Times

"You have cheered up my life. Thank you so much.”

Alice, aged 10

“It's not just the history, it's not just the pictures- it's the whole package. Do you want to hang half the visuals up on your wall? Probably. Do you want a bit of a puzzle? - you've got it here.”

Mary Drechsler, Dublin

“This is a magnificent book, a treasure-house that is totally unique. Just the concept is exciting but the execution is brilliant, with every page a delight of illustration and design.”

Alan Sheehy-Skeffington, Dublin

BLOG

It’s a relative question

“Frogs levitate in a strong enough magnetic field.” This fact was illustrated on a large advert and displayed on various bus shelters in Manchester and Liverpool in 2009. It was the result of a clever idea dreamt up by the outreach department of the Institute of...

My past life — working in the Central Bank (in shoulder pads)

Back in the early eighties (shoulder pads, unsure, skinny) while I was an undergrad at Trinity College Dublin studying Maths & Economics I managed to get myself a summer job as researcher in the Central Bank of Ireland on Dame street; my bosses were the now very...

The Physics Chanteuse

The year is 2000 and the month is November. Almost a year into my new position as the Institute of Physics Representative in Ireland, I find myself travelling to Switzerland with an Irish delegation of physics educators to attend a pan-European conference* being held...

1838

1673

1607

1838

1673

1607

WELCOME

Buy your copy now and journey through the ages...

“I hope that more libraries have the good fortune to experience Alison and her fascinating book.”

“Not only is she [Alison Hackett] forced to share a small city with da Vinci, he has even turned up in the same postal district.”

“Alison Hackett reverses science into cultural history to gather it to herself, to construct a lens with which to explain the world, in a way that is at once fragmented, modern and alive.”

“This is a labour of love, insanity, beauty and, perhaps, an attempt to reintegrate history, art and science together again.”

﻿“An endearing kaleidoscopic view of history and human achievement.”

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿“A beautiful, breathtaking ac﻿count of human ﻿e﻿ndeavour.”

“But that was only a hint of the ferment of ideas in Alison’s head. To express them more fully she founded a group called 21st Century Renaissance: dedicated to no les﻿s a thing than reviving the spirit of the original Renaissance.”

"You have cheered up my life. Thank you so much.”

“It's not just the history, it's not just the pictures- it's the whole package. Do you want to hang half the visuals up on your wall? Probably. Do you want a bit of a puzzle? - you've got it here.”

“This is a magnificent book, a treasure-house that is totally unique. Just the concept is exciting but the execution is brilliant, with every page a delight of illustration and design.”

BLOG

It’s a relative question

My past life — working in the Central Bank (in shoulder pads)

The Physics Chanteuse

“An endearing kaleidoscopic view of history and human achievement.”

“A beautiful, breathtaking account of human endeavour.”

“But that was only a hint of the ferment of ideas in Alison’s head. To express them more fully she founded a group called 21st Century Renaissance: dedicated to no less a thing than reviving the spirit of the original Renaissance.”