4 PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINES
Theories have four stages of acceptance:
i. this is worthless nonsense;
ii. this is interesting, but perverse;
iii. this is true, but quite unimportant;
iv. I always said so.
-J. B. S. HALDANE, 1963
In Isaac Asimov's classic novel The Gods Themselves, an obscure
chemist in the year 2070 accidentally stumbles upon the greatest discovery of all time, the Electron Pump, which produces unlimited energy for free. The impact is immediate and profound. He is hailed as
the greatest scientist of all time for satisfying civilization's unquenchable thirst for energy. "It was Santa Claus and Aladdin's lamp of the
whole world," Asimov wrote. The company he forms soon becomes
one of the richest corporations on the planet, putting the oil, gas, coal,
and nuclear industries out of business.
The world is awash with free energy and civilization is drunk with
this newfound power. As everyone celebrates this great achievement,
one lone physicist is uneasy. "Where is all this free energy coming
from?" he asks himself. Eventually he uncovers the secret. The free energy comes with a terrible price. This energy is pouring in from a hole
in space connecting our universe to a parallel universe, and the sudden influx of energy into our universe is setting off a chain reaction
Theories have four stages of acceptance:
i. this is worthless nonsense;
ii. this is interesting, but perverse;
iii. this is true, but quite unimportant;
iv. I always said so.
-J. B. S. HALDANE, 1963
In Isaac Asimov's classic novel The Gods Themselves, an obscure
chemist in the year 2070 accidentally stumbles upon the greatest discovery of all time, the Electron Pump, which produces unlimited energy for free. The impact is immediate and profound. He is hailed as
the greatest scientist of all time for satisfying civilization's unquenchable thirst for energy. "It was Santa Claus and Aladdin's lamp of the
whole world," Asimov wrote. The company he forms soon becomes
one of the richest corporations on the planet, putting the oil, gas, coal,
and nuclear industries out of business.
The world is awash with free energy and civilization is drunk with
this newfound power. As everyone celebrates this great achievement,
one lone physicist is uneasy. "Where is all this free energy coming
from?" he asks himself. Eventually he uncovers the secret. The free energy comes with a terrible price. This energy is pouring in from a hole
in space connecting our universe to a parallel universe, and the sudden influx of energy into our universe is setting off a chain reaction