The Further Inventions of Daedalus

  • David E.H. Jones
Oxford University Press: 1999. 210 pp. £14.99 (pbk )

As readers of Nature's News and Views pages know, the pseudonymous inventor Daedalus likes to think out loud about how the world might be made a better place. He is a scientist by training, and as such often reflects upon the world as it is given to us. But he also finds that world wanting and wishes to create things that never were. This is not to say that Daedalus is merely an applied scientist, for he injects a good measure of the engineer's essential ingredient — creativity — into each of his inventions. He imagines a new world, or at least a new artefact, week after week.

Daedalus's tone tends to be light and humorous, an impression often reinforced by the inventor's own cartoons which accompany the 148 articles compiled, revised, augmented and elaborated upon in this collection. Yet he also appears to be deadly serious in his purpose, as evidenced by the pride he takes in reporting that “some 21% of Daedalus's schemes make some sort of contact with the real world sooner or later”.

Bogged down in traffic: Daedalus's motorway crash barrier.

His proposal for a “combined motorway and linear sewage-treatment system” may be taken as typical. In this case, he begins by noting the importance of crash barriers between opposing lanes of traffic, but recognizes the shortcomings of present designs in damaging cars as well as barriers when they are called into play. He also notes the traditional use of reed-beds to treat flowing sewage. The engineering leap comes in his conceiving of locating marshy reed-beds in the middle of motorways, thus bogging down errant vehicles more or less safely while providing an efficient use of space in treating sewage. Moreover, the living barrier would be self-repairing.

As an engineer should, Daedalus anticipates how his scheme would succeed or fail in practice. Thus, he recognizes that keeping the water moving over hills and through dales would be essential for maintaining environmental freshness. Being a humorist, Daedalus usually manages to inject a touch of levity into even his most indelicate schemes. In the case of his barrier marsh, he reflects upon the psychological advantages of having a sewage pond between motorists and their anti-motorists. Who but the most incorrigible road hog would not take care to steer clear of the foul-water barrier?

While it is remarkable that Daedalus comes up with a wry idea every week, what is even more remarkable is the fact that he has been doing so for more than 35 years, having composed some 1,800 columns in total. His career began in 1964, when he was asked to contribute something humorous to New Scientist . In 1988 he moved to The Guardian and Nature. Not too long ago, Daedalus's 500th contribution to Nature, where he now appears exclusively, consisted of an interview with himself (see Nature 390, 126–127; 1997). And Daedalus's reflections continue.