78 THE SEVEN FOLLIES OF SCIENCE 



Professor 'sGravesande seems to have had some faith 

 in the invention, but then we must remember that it would 

 not have been very difficult to deceive an honest old pro- 

 fessor whose confidence in humanity was probably un- 

 bounded. The crowning argument against the genuineness 

 of the motion was the fact that the inventor refused to 

 allow a thorough examination, although a wealthy patron 

 stood ready with a large reward if the machine could be 

 proved to be what was claimed. 



And now comes up the question which has arisen in 

 regard to other problems, and will recur again and again 

 to the end of the chapter : Is a perpetual motion machine 

 one of the scientific impossibilities? 



The answer to this question lies in the fact that there 

 is no principle more thoroughly established than that no 

 combination of machinery can create energy. So far as 

 our present knowledge of nature goes we might as well 

 try to create matter as to create energy, and the creation 

 of energy is essential to the successful working of a per- 

 petual-motion machine because some power must always 

 be lost through friction and other resistances and must be 

 supplied from some source if the machine is to keep on 

 moving. And since the law of the conservation of energy 

 makes it positive that no more power can be given out by 

 a machine than was originally supplied to it, it seems as 

 certain as anything can be that the construction of a per- 

 petual-motion machine is one of the impossibilities. 



