Newton! That is all they go on about. Can they not see how narrow-minded they are ? They take that man’s work as gospel. I am surprised they haven’t yet built a building to worship him in and arranged a weekly service.
They turned my presentation into a complete farce, all that remains of the quarter scale model I had spent the last six months working on is a shouldering heap of brass and glass. Even though I had crafted it to be fully operational, it was never meant to be switched on. I stressed that at this size, the brass used in the carrier tube would not be able to take the excessive temperatures. The model does not scale 1 to 1 and that on the final version it would need to be some four inches thick, but that patronising philistine who deliberately sat at the front to annoy me, pulled the lever despite my protests.
What infuriates me the most, and I have already broken the lead on my pencil twice trying to write this, is that they did not acknowledge what they saw in front of their own eyes for the brief moment the model worked.
The parabolic mirror did its job and focused the light through the prism. The colour separation happened as expected, and the concentrated heat began to set the boiler in motion. At the same time, the dynamo began to spin into action and the electromagnets began to charge. They could clearly see through the inspection window that in the chamber the separate colour rays of light were behaving exactly as one would expect. Except for the blue frequency which was clearly showing signs of bending.
But oh no, they said the inspection panel was too small on the model, or that I had been lazy in my construction and the glass was at fault. Anything but what they clearly did see. If this had been my full size machine, there would be no doubt as to the results.
I should stop my ranting for a second and should note I was pleased to see, as predicted, the blue light was being drawn into the carrier tube. The boiler, having raised what I call my Huygen mixture to the correct temperature, began to fill the glass piston chambers on either side of the machine. The fluctuations in the electromagnetic field began to raise the fluid from the pistons and into the carrier tube itself. Sadly, the model could not take the sudden increase in temperature, but I have no doubt that on the full scale model we should then observe the following:
Once enough light has been pulled into the carrier tube, the pistons will fire.
In turn, this will cause the blue light to accelerate through the carrier tube.
At the other end, it will gain more force as it is passed through the mirror array.
Finally, it will pass through the oscillating gates and onto the screen.
Oh what a treat it will be, those precious laws of Newton they hang so dearly onto would be shattered in a second (or should I say in a non-second(?)) I can picture their faces now, they would have to build a hundred new academies to study my results! They would also have to admit that all this time, I had been right.
I have resigned myself to the fact that I am never going to get that grant I so desperately need from them. To hell with the academy!
I am not going to let myself be humiliated like that again, it was a pantomime from the start, something they set up for their own twisted amusement. I am tired, tired of walking through the corridors of the institute and being constantly ridiculed; tired of coming home at the end of each day feeling drained and alone in my work.
I spent the early part of this evening in my workshop walking among the casting moulds for the final machine. I admit that in my anger I was tempted to take a sledgehammer to the lot but…
I made some quick calculations, which I will need to double-check, but there may be a way I can complete my machine. There is no escaping the fact that Admiralty brass is the only alloy that has the right properties for the carrier tube and that is a cost I am going to have to bear.
However, I can substitute most of the brass needed in the frame with iron, and I will melt down the fireplaces in this house if I have to. For the rest of the construction, I am going to have to improvise and adapt. I can save money by letting my housekeeper go and I am sure that the contents of my library should raise enough funds to see this venture through.
All I need is the machine to operate for at most one minute, just enough time for the pistons fire and the light show to begin. I know Newton is wrong when he says that time and space are absolute and after the brief glimpse today, I want to satisfy my own curiosity – I want to prove to myself that all these years of work I have put in are not in vain.
I want to see into those other worlds.
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Tags: #fridayflash, 1890's, 1897, Academy, Brass, Dulwich, England, Europe, Experiment, Henry Lamberton, London, Machine, Newton, Scientist, Space, Time
Good stuffy mad scientist here. Wish he had a Paypal account for funding donations.
Since that was the last page of his journal, I will choose to believe that he escaped into another time instead of meeting some wicked end.
I like the journal format. It makes science more personal. I’ve often wondered what science was eclipsed by the ‘Big Guys’ in hte field.
Very good dramatic monologue! Works very well in journal format.
I hope what he sees in those other worlds are good things, hehe.
Well done.
Choice in descriptive elements and nicely told.
Excellent look into the mind of a mad scientist. I hope he did see those other worlds. Nicely done.
Its a rather interesting take on the life of an unrecognised scientist, I’m sure it would ring true of a great many of the unkown geniuses out there!
Someone said “Mad Scientist” lol I don’t think he’s mad at all. I think he just struggles to be taken seriously.
I for one have a beleif that all the ‘laws’ of science and mathematics really shouldn’t be considerred ‘laws’ at all, after all – when the so called ‘laws’ were made, the scientists saw through the prism of the perceptions of the day which perhaps might not apply so readily to what we know now, or have yet to know in the future.
Is this really his last page? Or did he succeed and someone stole the pages after this? I can’t imagine him not writing about what happens next. Or maybe I just want to know what happens next! Love passionate scientist stories
Is this a metaphor for the publication process?
Seriously, I enjoyed it and felt empathy for the guy. I bet those in the Academy don’t have half as much passion for what they do!