Eric Laithwaite

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Eric Roberts Laithwaite (14 June 1921 – 27 November 1997) was an English engineer, principally known for his development of the linear induction motor.

Inventor of Linear Induction motor & Gyroscopic Propulsion system
Inventor of Linear Induction motor & Gyroscopic Propulsion system

Contents

[edit] Biography

Raised in Fylde, Lancashire, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941 and, through his service in World War II, rose to the rank of Flying Officer, becoming a test engineer for autopilot technology at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough.

On demobilisation in 1946 he attended the University of Manchester to study electrical engineering. His work on the Manchester Mark I computer earned him his master's degree. His subsequent doctoral work started his interest in linear induction motors. He became professor of heavy electrical engineering at Imperial College London in 1964 where he continued his successful development of the linear motor.

In the 1980s, he was involved in creating a device to extract energy from sea waves (see patent GB2062114); although the technology was successful in trials, it could not be made storm proof, hence it never became a commercial success.

Laithwaite was an able communicator who made many television appearances. Memorable among these were his Royal Institution Christmas Lectures to young people in 1966 and 1974. The latter of these made much of the surprising phenomena of gyroscopes. See External Links for videos of these talks.

In 1974, Laithwaite presented a private demonstration to the Royal Institution, in which he claimed gyroscopes had no or little angular momentum. He later repeated this practical presentation to students at Imperial College. Laithwaite suggested that Newton's laws of motion are restricted to mass in straight lines and that these properties could be used as a means of reactionless propulsion. He theorised that Newton's law required an imaginary element in the equation in order to balance the forces acting on a swinging gyroscope.

The scientific establishment, in the form of the Royal Institution, rejected his theory and his lecture was not published by the RI. His feelings on this can be seen in one of the 1974-1975 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures which he presented. In an apparent defence of his position he quoted Freeman Dyson: "Most of the crackpot papers that are submitted to the Physical Review are rejected, not because it is impossible to understand them, but because it is possible. Those that are impossible to understand are usually published." (Freeman Dyson, Innovations in Physics, Scientific American, September 1958)

Despite the lack of interest from other scientists, Laithwaite continued to explore gyroscopic behaviour. Laithwaite set up Gyron Ltd with William Dawson and in 1993 applied for a patent (which was granted in 1999) entitled "propulsion system". See US5860317, GB2289757 and WO9530832 for the US, UK and World patents respectively.

Although Laithwaite is best known for his ideas concerning gyroscopes, he also held an idea concerning moths. It was that they communicate via radiation. He persisted in this belief even after the pheromone, which they actually use, had been isolated and could even be bought 'over-the-counter'. He also had a habit of championing the ideas of amateurs over those of experts. Such ideas included the ones that there are 3 types of magnetism, and that the '196 problem' is not a problem: terminating after relatively few iterations (in fact, the current count runs to millions of iterations - with no sign of termination).

Laithwaite retired from Imperial College in 1986, but was offered no other research post until 1990, when he became Visiting Professor at Sussex University. He was persuaded by George Scelzo of PRT Maglev Systems in Chicago, to submit a proposal to NASA for an electromagnetic launch assist track originally inspired by John Mankins of NASA. He died within weeks of the contract being awarded. The initial stage has been successfully continued by William Dawson and the contract with PRT for this development is still active. The track uses both levitation coils and linear induction motors, and it can be seen in the "Magnets" episode of Modern Marvels on the History channel.

He was also a keen entomologist and the co-author of The Dictionary of Butterflies and Moths (1975); he had one of the finest British collections of specimens. He married, in 1951, Sheila Gooddie; they had two sons and two daughters.

[edit] Published works

[edit] Articles

  • The influence of Michael Faraday on power engineering. Power engineering journal. Vol.5, no.5 (Sept.), pp.209–219 (1991)

[edit] Books

  • Propulsion without wheels (1965)
  • Induction machines for special purposes (1966)
  • The engineer in wonderland (1967) — The Royal Institution of Great Britain Christmas lectures, 1966/67. With illustrations, including a portrait.
  • The linear motor and its application to tracked hovercraft (1971)
  • Linear electric motors (1971)
  • Experiments with a linear induction motor (1971)
  • Exciting electrical machines (1974)
  • All things are possible: an engineer looks at research and development (1976)
  • Transport without wheels ed. (1977)
  • How to invent (1977) co-authored by M.W. Thring
  • Why does a glow-worm glow? (1977) illustrated by Mike Jackson
  • Electric energy: its generation, transmission and use (1980) co-authored by L.L. Freris
  • Engineer through the looking glass (1980)
  • Invitation to engineering (1984)
  • Shape is important (1986)
  • Force: a basic ingredient (1986)
  • A history of linear electric motors (1986)
  • Using materials (1987)
  • Size is vital (1987)
  • An inventor in the Garden of Eden (1994)

[edit] Honours

[edit] Bibliography

  • "Eric Laithwaite defies Newton", New Scientist, November 14, 1974, p470

[edit] External links

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