[In] the first efforts of Fred Barwell and myself to try out the feasibility of linear motor drives for railways... we built an 80-foot track in the … - Eric Laithwaite
" "[In] the first efforts of Fred Barwell and myself to try out the feasibility of linear motor drives for railways... we built an 80-foot track in the laboratories of Manchester University... Having put a seat on this vehicle and given rides to daily newspaper reporters (acceleration 0.5 g), we had all the publicity we needed...
About Eric Laithwaite
Eric Roberts Laithwaite (14 June 1921 – 27 November 1997) was a British electrical engineer, known as the "Father of " for his development of the and maglev rail system. He and Fredrick Eastham designed a self-stable magnetic levitation system called (which incidentally appeared in the film The Spy Who Loved Me). Laithwaite derived an equation for "goodness", which parametrically described motor efficiency in general terms, and which he interpreted as implying that motor efficiency increases with size. He made many television appearances, including the to young people in 1966 and 1974. Laithwaite was also a keen amateur entomologist and the co-authored The Dictionary of Butterflies and Moths (1975).
Also Known As
Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.
Additional quotes by Eric Laithwaite
[T]he academic tended to dislike the industrialist and the industrialist both distrusted and feared the academic—distrusted because 'theory never works in practice' and feared because the managing director might reveal some chink in his 'armour of experience' when confronted by the academic in the presence of some of his own staff. Had not the 'long-haired Professor' long been a music-hall joke and his caricature the subject of comedy films?
I know no property of a gyroscope that conflicts... with the conservation of energy. ... is in the same state today that as it was in the fifteenth century when Leonardo da Vinci denounced it so properly. ...If you really want to see perpetual motion, look into the sky on a cloudless night and marvel at the size and movement within the Universe.
Advanced Search Filters
Filter search results by source, date, and more with our premium search tools.
[A] world financial recession brought governments into conflict with technological innovation in linear motors in the mid 1970s. Looking back... it will seem amazing that at a time when millions of pounds worth of commercially manufactured linear motors had been sold and had proved their worth, everyone was so slow to appreciate their value in the transport scene, knowing that bigger, faster motors would have enormously superior characteristics to those used for sliding doors, traveling cranes, conveyor belt drives and the like.