Magnetic
wheel
A wheel, A,
with a series of armatures on its periphery, revolves before a
horseshoe magnet. Upon the shaft are also mounted a star wheel and a
propeller wheel. The star wheel is: arranged to tilt a lever, which
carries at its extremity a plate, B, of brass coated with the "chemical
and mineral substances" which make it an insulator of magnetism.
The permanent
magnet is a U-shaped bar, with its poles near the wheel,
A, and opposite the path of the insulating plate B. The propeller
wheel, turning in a cup of water, serves to equalize the motion, and
thus prevent the machine from running away with itself and committing
self-destruction, so the inventor said.
(Subsection 967, from p.388)
From: Gardner D. Hiscox, M.E., Mechanical Appliances and Novelties of Construction (1927), Norman W. Henley Publ. Co.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) -- Carl Sagan
