Auction

This remarkable compendium of autographs of the scientists that played a role in understanding and harnessing nuclear power is a one-of-a-kind piece – an irreplaceable relic of what is perhaps the most momentous development in history.

Collectibles

Auction alert: 'Atomic Energy' signed by Einstein, Oppenheimer & others

We believe a book going to auction this week is a rare opportunity for collectors who appreciate significant scientific achievement. The hardcover copy of "Atomic Energy in the Coming Era" (1949) is signed by a "who's who" of 20th Century physics.

Technology

Computer input gloves made by the inventor of the mouse up for auction

If you've ever wanted a pair of gloves associated with one of the great leaps in computer technology, now's the time. Prototype typing gloves developed by Douglas Engelbart and Valerie Landau to replace keyboards as interface devices are up for auction.

The aviary scene in Jurassic Park III will live in the memory of all those who saw it. That's a Pteranodon, as visualised by Steven Spielberg, being none too happy about having unannounced visitors in its home.

Collectibles

Pteranodon sells for US$3.9 million to join fossil pantheon

A rare and large Pteranodon skeleton sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York this evening for US$3,932,000, moving into the top five most valuable fossils of all-time: behind only Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops and Gorgosaurus.

The master tape copies of the Golden Record

Space

Carl Sagan's personal Golden Record tapes go on the block

A truly historic Space Age recording is up for auction as the personal copy of the master tapes belonging to Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan for the crafting of the Golden Record that flew on Voyager 1 and 2 goes on the block at Sotheby's.

Albert Einstein's best known award in the present day was Time magazine's Person of the Century. "He was the embodiment of pure intellect, the bumbling professor with the German accent, a comic cliche in a thousand films," Time wrote. "Instantly recognizable, like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, Albert Einstein's shaggy-haired visage was as familiar to ordinary people as to the matrons who fluttered about him in salons from Berlin to Hollywood. Yet he was unfathomably profound - the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed."

Science

Einstein paper heads for auction tonight – a bargain in the offing?

A six-page autograph manuscript by Albert Einstein entitled "The Essence of the Theory of Relativity" is being auctioned tonight, and scientific voyeurs can watch all the fun as the heavy-hitters come out to play, as the sale will be live online.

The checklist included notes for Cernan's last words on the Moon

Space

Checklist from last Apollo lunar mission sells for almost US$800,000

A piece of space history has sold at auction for US$744,994 after the moondust-besmirched checklist Apollo 17 Commander Gene Cernan wore on his spacesuited wrist during the last crewed lunar mission went on the block at RR Auctions.

The Macintosh was used by Jobs after he left Apple

Computers

Macintosh computer once owned by Steve Jobs goes up for auction

A Macintosh SE computer that was used by tech legend Steve Jobs is going on the auction block in New York on October 25 as part of Bonham's History of Science and Technology auction, where the unit is estimated to go for US$200,000 to $300,000.

The depth of talent at the top end this year is nothing short of astonishing.

Automotive

Monterey Car Week 2022 Auction Preview: the $10 million cars

Monterey Car Week is upon us once more, and the auction cluster that provides a large part of the show at the week-long automotive celebration is shaping as the biggest in history.

Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr. wearing the jacket that sold yesterday for $2.77 million. Aldrin is pictured inside the Apollo 11 Lunar Module during the lunar landing mission. The picture was taken by Neil Armstrong, just prior to the landing on 20 July 1969.

Collectibles

Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 jacket smashes auction records

At the "Buzz Aldrin: American Icon" auction yesterday, Sotheby’s sold the jacket worn to the moon by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin yesterday for $2,772,500, smashing all sorts of auction records in the process.

How did such an iconic, rare and important scientific instrument decline in value?

Collectibles

Original 300-year-old Fahrenheit thermometer drops in value at auction

On July 16, an extremely rare and historically important thermometer made by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, inventor of the mercury thermometer and the temperature scale that bears his name, sold for just US$93,750.

The prototype was built as a demonstrator for Apple's first big sale

Computers

"Lost" Apple computer prototype goes on the auction block

A "lost" artifact from the dawn of the age of the personal computer is going up for sale. Steve Job's original, hand-soldered "Apple Computer A" prototype built in 1976 to support Apple's first big contract is on the auction block at RR Auction.

A 77-million-year-old Gorgosaurus skeleton is going under the hammer this month

Science

Huge carnivorous dinosaur skeleton goes up for auction in New York

It’s hard to find a cooler collectible than the skeleton of a long-dead predator. The latest to hit the auction block is a Gorgosaurus, a distant relative of T-rex, which will be offered for sale by Sotheby’s New York in its Natural History sale.