'Perpetual motion machine'
Date
ca.1981
Creator
David Edward Hugh Jones (1938 - 2017, British) , Chemist
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (object): 820mm
width (object): 665mm
depth (object): 220mm
width (object): 665mm
depth (object): 220mm
Subject
Content object
Description
David Jones' first 'perpetual motion machine': a bicycle wheel suspended in a square metal frame, lined with perspex casing. Three metal boxes are attached to the inside of the wheel's tyre, and the word 'DREADCO' is displayed on a box that hangs from a metal bar across the center. The wheel represents the moving element of the machine and its source of energy is deliberately concealed.
From the David Jones collection. David Edward Hugh Jones (1938-2017) was a research chemist and science writer. His alter ego, Daedalus, inventor for the fictional company DREADCO (Daedalus Research Evaluation and Development Corp), specialised in stretching the limits of science. Jones was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
This 'pereptual motion machine' was the first of a series. It was created by Jones on the request of New Scientist for a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in York, 1981. It was later displayed in the Physical Chemistry Department of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where members of the public were invited to guess how it worked.
From the David Jones collection. David Edward Hugh Jones (1938-2017) was a research chemist and science writer. His alter ego, Daedalus, inventor for the fictional company DREADCO (Daedalus Research Evaluation and Development Corp), specialised in stretching the limits of science. Jones was not a Fellow of the Royal Society.
This 'pereptual motion machine' was the first of a series. It was created by Jones on the request of New Scientist for a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in York, 1981. It was later displayed in the Physical Chemistry Department of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where members of the public were invited to guess how it worked.
Object history
Donated to the Royal Society, 2018.