Abstract
THE annual May conversazione of the Royal Society was held on Wednesday, May 13, and was, as usual, largely attended. During the evening demonstrations were given in the meeting-room by Prof. J. P. Hill and Mr. P. Schilowsky. Prof. Hill gave a short account of the work of the Percy Sladen Expedition to Brazil, 1913, illustrated by lantern-slides of material collected and regions visited; and Mr. Schilowsky demonstrated the application of gyroscopes to locomotion on land, on sea, and in air. The gyroscope's stabilising property can be applied to unstable bodies like monorail cars or monotrack automobiles, making them stable; that property can be used for stable but oscillatory bodies like ships, submarines, flying machines, preventing their rolling movement and rendering them perfectly steady. A description of the application of the system to a two-wheeled motor-car appeared in NATURE of May 7 (p. 251). Dr. J. G. Gray exhibited gyrostats with accessories for showing the more obvious properties of the gyrostat, and a series of what may be called “animated” gyrostats. The latter consist of gyrostatic acrobats, bicycle riders, and gyrostatic motorcars, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled. A two-wheeled car was provided with a gyrostatic “chauffeur,” which stabilised the car and presided at the steering wheel. This car illustrated the action of directing and stabilising apparatus for use on torpedoes, airships, and aeroplanes. A further form of two-wheeled car demonstrated methods of stabilising and manoeuvring an airship by means of forces derived from the propellers, which apply a direct push to the moving body. Dr. Gray's bicycles and motorcars can be steered by the wireless transmission of electrical action. There were many other exhibits of objects and devices of scientific interest, and we give descriptions, from the official catalogue, of some of the most interesting grouped according to related subjects.
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The Royal Society Conversazione . Nature 93, 304–306 (1914). https://doi.org/10.1038/093304a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/093304a0