The Eric Laithwaite's 1974 Lecture
"The Engineer Through the Looking Glass"

UPDATE: Sept. 29. 2008

 

A one hour Royal Institution’s 1974-75 Christmas Lecture that has caused so much discussion. The 1 hour lecture is split into 19 parts for easy downloading. Click on the picture to start the video.

1. This part has the introduction to the lecture. There is a little dramatization in this section. No demonstrations.

2. Demonstration of a beautiful brass victorian gyroscope. Explains briefly how mass can be measured. A demonstration of angle of friction. Importance of not defining laws/rules that restrict understanding.

3. Demonstration of 'resistance' in a coil of wire (and how the axis is important). A general comment on how things can either work/not work when on a different axises.

4. Gyroscope gimbal rings. Precession. Torque. Good demonstration of precession with Victorian gyroscope. Shows that a gyroscope precession has little/no inertia. Nutation

5. The toy gyroscope on a tower. Another demonstration of the tower/gyroscope on ice to show there is so little inertia from a gyroscope.

6. Gyroscope on a arm. No angular momentum.

7. Air powered gyroscope (5000 rpm - 8 lb). Searching for centrifugal force. Gyroscope hanging over the top of a table. Out of balance by 2 kg.

8. Gyroscope on a arm with a second pivot point. Making a body lighter than it is.

9. 15-16 lb gyroscope hanging from a long piece of string.

10. Denis lifts a 18 lb gyroscope with a 6lb shaft running at 2000rpm.

11. Small gyro and a rubber mat. The energy contained within a gyroscope.

12. 18 lb gyroscope on a stand.

13. What's wrong with the scientific world.

14. Ohms law only applies to DC and not AC. Eric Suggests that Newton's laws of motion are restricted to mass in straight lines.

15. Air gyro. Proving there is no/little momentum.

16. Why perpetual motion can and does not exist.

17. Gyro/Flywheel in a Swiss Bus.

18. Low level explanation of a gyroscope.

19. Summing up. The future.

 


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