Long before phones buzzed in pockets, public life had its own loud operating system. Bells, drums, horns, whistles, and sirens told people when to wake, pray, work, gather, take cover, or pay ...

In Greek mythology, a siren was a demonic being (half bird, half woman). Later on this idea was transformed in art into a mermaid: a combination of a fish and a woman. Mechanical and electromechanical ...