A USELESS QUEST

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 148, 20 December 1930, Page 25

A USELESS QUEST

PERPETUAL MOTION FRAUDS

It is interesting to observe that the record of the efforts to find some source of free universal power or perpetual motion goes back at least some centuries. Again it has cropped up among us. Out of the thousands o-f power-for-nothing devices which have been proposed all have been found wanting. The reason is not far to seek. Such theories as they embody do not rest upon scientific facts. A famous instance is the Hendershot power-out-of-nothing motor, announced three years ago by Lester J. Hendershot, of Pittsburg, U.S.A., and in different parts of the world this has brought numerous similar proposals in its train from many doubtful and secretive sources, says a writer in the Melbourne "Argus." The Hendershot motor, according to the inventor, was operated by the same force that pulls the needle of the compass around, and was supposed to' develop rotary motion. He claimed it was a constant speed motor, but he built a 'model only. This motor was said to be a magnet wound round with special coils, so that the motor rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation of the earth beneath it. In fact, the sum total of tho information given to the scientific world by Hendershot and his friends is that but a small model has been seen to run by his friends. It has never been subjected to complete engineering tests, and is not likely to be. Concerning the magnetic theory and other theories recently advanced by several American inventors of power-out-of-nothing engines, scientific opinion is_ severely sceptical. A foremost American professor, Alexander E. Klemin, of New York, has expressed doubts as to the possibilities of any such type of motor; so has Dr. Whitehead, Dean of the John S. Hopkins "University, while President Straten considers, even if a motor could be constructed to operate on the earth's mag-, netic field, it would probably weigh 1000 times as much as a complete aeroplane; and William Moadowcroft, assistant to Thomas A. Edison (and a distinguished electrical expert in his own right); Professor H. Sheldon, of the Department of Physics, of New York University^ and many other renowned physicists share the same doubt. America's most distinguished electrical expert, Professor M. I. Pipin, of . Columbia University, has said: "I cannot understand how* sufficient power can be generated electrically or otherwise by such methods to operate a heavy object."

The scepticism of seicnce is based upon the fact that such theories as applying such power for working machines is definitely contrary to known facts. A thousand miles of wire, if it were possiblo to wave it across the magnetic pole of tho earth, could not give more than a few horse power, while using anything smaller should be measured in gnat power, not horse power. These conclusions are definite, as they rest upon many thousands of measurements'of the magnetic forces of the earth made by scores of scientists in every . civilised country. One conclusion is definite. If any fuelless motor really worked on the earth's magnetic energies the greatest power it can develop is believed to be equal only to the power shown by a magnetic compass needle of equal size. The electrical forces of the earth might seem more probable sources of power, but although more powerful than the earth's magnetic forces, these forces are far too weak to usefully operate a motor. In a recent statement the Department of Terrestrial Research, Washington,calculated that the energy obtainable in theory by trapping the electricity of the atmosphere over the entire State of Wisconsin (U.S.A.) would only total enough power for one dim electric lamp. For machines claiming to derive their power from the earth's magnetism, or its electrical forces, the American Patent Office has declined to consider any claims until the device claiming perpetual motion, or power out of nothing, is. submitted for testing. So far no American inventor his met this demand. Plain fraud is often practised with this type of invention, as was done by means of concealed storage batteries in a fuelless automobile not so long ago in New York, these being hidden in the cushions. The usual procedure seems to be the use of tiny batteries concealed in table legs, wooden bases, etc., and all such places should be examined. Possiblo supplies of magnetic energy from coils concealed in walls, floors, etc., must also be looked for. Men of the highest intelligence have been fooled by such devices when backed by certain extraordinary claims such aa being able to drive machines, to provide unlimited power,. light up buildings electrically, etc. To sum up, science expects long and patient plodding, before power-from-nothing machines can become a reality.