Lovelace – The Origin
sydneypadua.com
sydneypadua.com
(by telling you this, I'm making my chances of winning worse, aren't I? aagh)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilmot,_2nd_Earl_of_Roches...
Rochester told the historian Gilbert Burnet that, "for five years together he was continually drunk; not all the while under the visible effect of it." He was repeatedly banished—and as often recalled—by the King he scurrilously lampooned. Drinking made him "extravagantly pleasant"; it also led to disgraces such as the destruction of a royal sundial and a brawl at Epsom in which his friend Mr. Downes was killed.
It brings to life a certain exhilaration in English society during the industrial revolution, when people thought every problem could be solved with the right (steam-based) technology... not unlike what you might find in the Bay Area these days.