Ten of the most significant objects in science, engineering, technology and medicine were selected for the vote.

Information on all the items is found at the Science Museum in London.

The first three positions were filled by medical inventions or discoveries, the X-ray machine being followed by the discoveries of penicillin and the DNA double helix structure.

X-rays provided the first possibility of looking inside someone's body without cutting them open - a massive medical advance.

THE RESULTS

  • 1st place - X-ray machines
  • 2nd place - Penicillin
  • 3rd place - DNA double helix
  • 4th place - Apollo 10 capsule
  • 5th place - V2 Rocket Engine
  • 6th place - Stephenson's Rocket
  • 7th place - Pilot ACE Computer
  • 8th place - Steam Engine
  • 9th place - Model T Ford
  • 10th place - Electric Telegraph

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said:

"The public's choice of the X-ray machine as the winner is testament to our insatiable curiosity to find out how things work."