Polygraph (duplicating device) Polygraph (duplicating device) A Polygraph is a device that produces a copy of a piece of writing simultaneously with the creation of the original, using pens and ink. Patented by John Isaac Hawkins on May 17, 1803, it was most famously used by the third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, who acquired his first polygraph in 1804 and later suggested improvements to Charles Willson Peale, owner of the American rights. Because Jefferson was a prolific letter writer, the preservation of his copies have offered historians extensive insights into Jefferson's viewpoints and actions. Jefferson called the polygraph "the finest invention of the
My Name Is Red the specific manuscripts described (most prominently the "Shahnama given by Shah Tahmasp", more commonly known in the west as the Houghton shahnama) are real and survive in whole or part. "My Name Is Red" received favourable reviews when published in English. A reviewer for "Publishers Weekly" admires the novel's "...jeweled prose and alluring digressions, nesting stories within stories" and concludes that Pamuk will gain many new readers with this "...accessible, charming and intellectually satisfying, narrative." A "Kirkus Reviews" critic describes the novel as "...a whimsical but provocative exploration of the nature of art in an Islamic society. . . .