Question: The Playfair cipher was invented in 1854 by an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of what era?

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Blue skies research: Blue skies research (also called blue sky science) is scientific research in domains where "real-world" applications are not immediately apparent.  It has been defined as "research without a clear goal" and "curiosity-driven science."  It is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "basic research."  Proponents of this mode of science argue that unanticipated scientific breakthroughs are sometimes more valuable than the outcomes of agenda-driven research, heralding advances in genetics and stem cell biology as examples of unforeseen benefits of research that was originally seen as purely theoretical in scope.  Because of the inherently uncertain return on investment, blue-sky projects are politically and commercially unpopular and tend to lose funding to more reliably profitable or practical research.

Scientific priority: In science, priority is the credit given to the individual or group of individuals who first made the discovery or propose the theory.  Fame and honours usually go to the first person or group to publish a new finding, even if several researchers arrived at the same conclusion independently and at the same time.  Thus between two or more independent discoverers, the first to make formal publication is the legitimate winner.  Hence, the tradition is often referred to as the priority rule, the procedure of which is nicely summed up in a phrase "publish or perish", because there are no second prizes.  In a way, the race to be first inspires risk-taking that can lead to scientific breakthroughs which is beneficial to the society (such as discovery of malaria transmission, DNA, HIV, etc.); on the other hand, it can create an unhealthy competition, thus, becoming detrimental to scientific progress.

Foresight (psychology): Foresight is the ability to predict, or the action of predicting, what will happen or what is needed in the future.  Studies suggest that much of human daily thought is directed towards potential future events.  Because of this and its role in human control on the planet, the nature and evolution of foresight is an important topic in psychology.  Recent neuroscientific, developmental, and cognitive studies have identified many commonalities to the human ability to recall past episodes. " Science" magazine selected new evidence for such commonalities one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs of 2007.  However, there are fundamental differences between mentally travelling through time into the future (i.e., foresight) versus mentally travelling through time into the past (i.e., episodic memory).

William Ernest Cooke: William Ernest Cooke (25 July 1863 – 7 November 1947), generally referred to as "W. Ernest Cooke" or informally "Ernest Cooke", was an Australian astronomer, credited with a number of important scientific breakthroughs and improved methodologies in astronomical observations and star cataloguing.  He was the first Western Australian Government Astronomer and established the Perth Observatory as one of the best equipped and productive establishments of its type in Australia.

Joseph Mauborgne: Joseph Oswald Mauborgne (February 26, 1881 – June 7, 1971) co-invented the one-time pad with Gilbert Vernam of Bell Labs.  In 1914 he published the first recorded solution of the Playfair cipher.  Mauborgne became a Major General in the United States Army, and from October 1937 to his retirement in 1941 was the Army's 12th Chief Signal Officer, in command of the Signal Corps.

Nigeria Prizes for Science and Literature: The Nigeria Prize for Science and The Nigeria Prize for Literature are Nigerian science and literary awards presented annually since 2004.  The award is sponsored by Nigeria LNG in partnership with the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Letters.  The prize describes itself as "bringing Nigerian scientists and authors to public attention and celebrating excellence in scientific breakthroughs and literary craftsmanship in the nation."

2003 in science: The year 2003 was an exciting one for new scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs progress in many scientific fields.  Some of the highlights of 2003, which will be further discussed below, include: the anthropologic discovery of 350,000-year-old footprints attesting to the presence of upright-walking humans; SpaceShipOne flight 11P making its first supersonic flight; the observation of a previously unknown element, moscovium was made; and the world’s first digital camera with an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display is released by Kodak.

Charles Wheatstone: Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS (6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875), was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope (a device for displaying three-dimensional images), and the Playfair cipher (an encryption technique).  However, Wheatstone is best known for his contributions in the development of the Wheatstone bridge, originally invented by Samuel Hunter Christie, which is used to measure an unknown electrical resistance, and as a major figure in the development of telegraphy.

Playfair cipher: The Playfair cipher or Playfair square or Wheatstone-Playfair cipher or Wheatstone cipher is a manual symmetric encryption technique and was the first literal digram substitution cipher.  The scheme was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone, but bears the name of Lord Playfair who promoted the use of the cipher.

Charles Greville Williams: Charles H. Greville Williams (22 September 1829 – 15 June 1910), was an English scientist and analytical chemist who published many scientific papers from 1853.  He was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.  He died in Horley and is buried in Streatham.

Supporting paragraphs: Playfair cipher Charles Wheatstone
Answer: Victorian era