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 and Maglev rail system.

Inventor of Linear Induction motor & Gyroscopic Propulsion system

1 Biography
2 Published works
- 2.1 Articles
- 2.2 Books
3 Honours
4 Bibliography
5 External links

Biography

Raised in the Fylde, Lancashire and educated at Kirkham Grammar School, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. Through his service in World War II, he 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. In 1974, Laithwaite was invited by the Royal Institution to give a talk on a subject of his own choosing. He decided to lecture about gyroscopes, a subject in which he had only recently become interested. His interest had been aroused by an amateur inventor named Alex Jones, who contacted Laithwaite about a reactionless propulsion drive he (Jones) had invented. After seeing a demonstration of Jones's small prototype (a small wagon with a swinging pendulum which advanced intermittently along a table top), Laithwaite became convinced that "he had seen something impossible". In his lecture before the Royal Institution he claimed that gyroscopes weigh less when spinning, and to demonstrate this he showed that he could lift a spinning gyroscope mounted on the end of a rod easily with one hand, but could not do so when the gyroscope was not spinning. At this time, Laithwaite suggested that Newton's laws of motion could not account for the behavior of gyroscopes, and that they could be used as a means of reactionless propulsion. The members of the Royal Institution rejected his ideas, and his lecture was not published. (This was the first and only time an invited lecture to the Royal Institution has not been published.) Despite this rejection, and despite the fact that Laithwaite later acknowledged that gyroscopes behave fully in accord with Newtonian mechanics, he continued to explore gyroscopic behaviour, maintaining the belief that some form of reactionless propulsion could be derived from them. Laithwaite set up Gyron Ltd with William Dawson and in 1993 applied for a patent entitled "Propulsion System". See US5860317, GB2289757 and WO9530832 for the US, UK and pct application for patents respectively. A United States Patent, Number 5860317, was granted in 1999. 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.

Published works

Articles

The multiplication of bananas by umbrellas Electrical Review, 20th-27th Dec. 1974, pp. 822-824
The bigger they are, the harder they fall Electrical Review, 14th Feb. 1975, pp. 40-42
1975 - A space odyssey Electrical Review, 28th Mar. -- 4th Apr. 1975, pp. 398-400
Roll Isaac, roll - Part I Electrical Review, Vol. 204, No. 7, 16th Feb. 1979, pp. 38-41
Roll Isaac, roll - Part II Electrical Review, Vol. 204, No. 11, 16th Mar. 1979, pp. 31-33
Give us a sign Electrical Review, Vol. 207, No. 3, 18th Jul. 1980, pp. 40-42
The influence of Michael Faraday on power engineering. Power engineering journal, Vol.5, No. 5, Sept. 1991, pp. 209–219

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)