Article April 26, 1982 Issue

Perpetual motion—impossible?

LOCKWOOD D. BURTON

In the early days of the United States Patent Office, an application for a patent for an invention was accompanied by a working model of that invention. But such a working model isn't usually required now. There is, however, a reservation that permits the requirement of such a working model under appropriate circumstances. That reservation is traditionally exercised when the patent applicant claims to have invented a perpetual motion machine.

The reason the requirement would be exercised under such circumstances is that in the physical sciences, perpetual motion is recognized as an impossibility. One unabridged dictionary defines "perpetual motion" as "The conceived incessant motion of a hypothetical (but mechanically impossible) machine perpetually supplying its own motive forces independently of any action from without." One reason no mechanism can accomplish perpetual motion is that no mechanism can operate without friction—the rubbing together of two distinct bodies—even if one of those bodies is merely air. Friction absorbs energy from the moving body, produces heat, and offers resistance to the continued motion.

What does this have to do with Christian Science? In the textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes, "Mind is perpetual motion."^{Science and Health, p. 240.} A student of Christian Science, who as a patent attorney was involved in the physical science, found that statement by Mrs. Eddy somewhat perplexing. How could Mind be perpetual motion if, according to physical laws, perpetual motion is an impossibility? This required a deep search for understanding.