The Christmas Lectures

rigb.org

Interesting...they have Eric Laithwaite's 1974 lecture, which was something of an embarrassment to the Royal Institution because he used the lecture to claim that gyroscopes violated Newton's Laws and could be used to make a reactionless propulsion system. (He later admitted that he was totally wrong about gyroscopes not obeying Newtonian mechanics, but remained convinced that a reactionless drive using them might be possible).

Details at Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Laithwaite

Wonderful when he unrolls a motor into his Linear Induction Motor used by Maglev Levitating Trains.

Laithewaite was an engineer, used to tweaking things till they worked and then trying to understand & explain them.

The fact that a small boy can only lift a heavy gyroscope when it is spinning defies easy explanation - Laithewaite's mistake was claiming this somehow defied Newton's Laws and was reactionless propulsion.

Laithewaite's almost childish fascination with the gyroscopic effect is charming and infectious.

That moment in this lecture completely destroyed his career.

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