Material relating to the professional and scientific career of Dr. Dionysius Lardner, including Material relating to the professional and scientific career of Dr. Dionysius Lardner, including. Item 1 -- 3 letters from correspondents at University College London informing Calthrop that Dionysius Lardner was appointed as Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in 1827 and probably held the post from 1828 for three years; they also say that the College Library holds letters by Lardner;. Item 2 -- a photocopied article from Spectrum (no. 147/1977) titled "Ada Byron -- the romantic computer programmer" by Terence McLaughlin, about Babbage's "difference engine", which mentions Lardner;. Item 3 -- 2 letters from the archivist at British Transport Historical Records stating that Lardner gave evidence regarding the London and Brighton Railway Bill in May 1836; also, that no evidence that Dion Boucicault was employed by the London and Birmingham Railway has been found;. Item 4 -- a letter from L. T. C. Rolt, author of a book on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, mentioning the relationship of Lardner and Brunel, and Lardner's railway experiments; there is also a passing reference to the Abbots Ripton accident, in which Dion Boucicault's son Dion William was killed;. Item 5 -- notes by C. Calthrop on Lardner's book "The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained" and passages excerpted from an exchange of letters in The Times between Lardner and "A Looker-on" in 1845; 1827-1876