G'morning David,

 -> in part on radar applications, but was a teenage radio ham in the
 -> 1920's,  I understand that Marconi was viewed more as an exploiter
 -> of early radio techniques rather than a contributor....

 DW> Every innovator stands on the shoulders of those who have gone before
 DW> him. Sure, Marconi used a lot of stuff that others had invented and
 DW> discovered, but I don't think this detracts from his achievement in
 DW> making the first transatlantic radio transmission, or his contribution
 DW> to developing radio as a method of practical communication. Without
 DW> what he did, the notorious murderer Dr Crippen would not have been
 DW> caught, and the Titanic disaster would have been even worse than it
 DW> actually was.

Judging by the vitriol the old-timers used in talking about, I 
concluded that his greatest sin was making money from it all.

Getting back to Schauberg for a moment,  I was moved to look him 
up and found a glowing history that noted that his basic interest 
in levitation started with his early involvement in forestry.

It seems that he became expert in managing streams and rivers, 
especially in the business of floating tree trunks down to 
marshalling ponds.  After WW1 he was given charge of a large 
forest, and spent untold hours studying its streams and 
waterfalls.

"Another phenomena that captured Viktor's imagination was gathered 
from his observation of the trout's ability to jump high 
watercourses with apparently so little effort. Again this 
phenomena occurred during the moonlight hours of the night. On one 
particular occasion when Viktor was sitting waiting to catch a 
fish poacher he observed the manner of how a particularly large 
fish used the currents of the water to jump up and over its upper 
curve. After decades of such observations, Viktor concluded that a 
natural watercourse allows for a natural build up of energy that 
flows in the opposite direction to the water, it is this energy 
that is used by the trout. "In a suitably formed waterfall this 
energy flow can be distinguished as a channel of light within the 
streaming water. The trout seeks out this energy flow and is 
sucked upwards as if in a whirlpool" (p22 ibid.) A repetition of 
this phenomenon repeated itself giving rise to Viktor's new ideas 
of motion: "I did not trust my generally observant eyes anymore, 
when suddenly an almost head-sized stone begun to move in a 
circular path in the same way as a trout before leaping over a 
waterfall. The stone was egg-shaped. In the next instance the 
stone was on the surface of the water, around which a circle of 
ice quickly formed. It appeared to float on the water surface, lit 
by the full moon. Then a second, a third, followed by other stones 
in sequence went through the same movements. Eventually nearly all 
the stones of the same egg shape were on the surface. Other stones 
of irregular or angular shape remained below and did not move. At 
the time I naturally had no idea that it was a case of 
synchronicity of events, leading to a unique form of movement. 
This movement overcomes the force of gravity and allows the stones 
of regular shape to come to the surface of the water." (p.23 
ibid.)

Victor later used these observations to initiate designs for 
generating power and motion that worked in harmony with nature in 
that they did not produce toxic emissions. For Viktor nature is 
the foremost teacher so that the task of technology is not to 
correct nature but to imitate it, 'kapieren und kopeiren' was the 
principle that guided him throughout his life, 'first understand 
nature and then copy it.' (p.34 ibid.)"

Now, my own background includes working with hypnosis - and I'm 
quite struck with the very real capability of any repetitious 
movement like falling water to easily induce a hypnogogic state in 
suseptible people.

Add to this the well-known `waterfall illusion' (watch a waterfall 
for 30 seconds, and then look at any nearby rock to experience 
this),  and it seems to me that you have all that's needed to lead 
yourself ...and others of a like nature... well astray.

Interesting to note, too, that the full scientific method as we 
know it now was only finally detailed in the 1920's...

:-)
 
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