On 4 September 2018 we celebrated Captain W H Richards 150th birthday with a special exhibition held at Totnes Museum during 2019 supported by the Royal Society. Totnes is now on the map as a place of science because of WH! He grew up in Totnes and lived there until he was 22. We look forward to parts of the exhibition becoming permanent at Totnes Museum in the Charles Babbage Room when they can re-open.
https://www.totnesmuseum.org/ During early part of 2020 we liaised with Shere Museum who in 2022 (we hope! ) will host a special exhibition with all our updated and very exciting discoveries and research!
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Many people have asked why the first robot was called 'Eric'. In a quote from WH in The Model Engineer and Light Machinery Review, 20 September, 1928, page 275, WH explains, 'He has been christened "Eric", because...we built him "little by little." This did not really make sense to me until recently when I was discussing this with a friend who remembered that there had been a well known, popular children's book by Frederic W. Farrar, called 'Eric, or, Little by Little', first published in 1858 and still in print today and so popular at the time it is credited with the increase in the name Eric in English speaking countries. As a literary man, WH would have been more than aware of this famous book and it also demonstrates his sense of humour!
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