David E. Cowlishaw
David E. Cowlishaw | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Gyroscopic Inertial Thruster (GIT) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Inertial propulsion, mechanics |
David E. Cowlishaw (David Eugene Cowlishaw) is an independent inventor and self-described "dabbler in physics" known for proposing the Gyroscopic Inertial Thruster ("GIT"), a claimed reactionless propulsion device based on purely mechanical principles. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Work
Cowlishaw's GIT Theory, posted online in 1998, argues against the conventional principle that linear and angular momentum cannot be exchanged. He proposes that by varying the rotational speed of masses orbiting outside their center of gravity, a combination of torque, tangential and centrifugal force components can be arranged to produce a net linear thrust without an expelled reaction mass. The device is described as several spherical or dual-conic "orbitals" rolling around an inclined circular track, decelerating at the rear (converting translational to rotational kinetic energy) and accelerating at the front.
His concept attracted a following among inertial-propulsion experimenters, and replications of the GIT were built and tested by others, including Britt Beaubian and researchers associated with Jean-Louis Naudin's JLN Labs. Independent test attempts (notably one completed in November 2001) concluded that observed uni-directional motion was attributable to ordinary wave/vibration effects rather than an anomalous reactionless force. Claims of genuine reactionless propulsion lie outside mainstream physics, which holds that such a device would violate conservation of momentum.