Post by Catsmate on Apr 20, 2015 12:32:35 GMT
A short idea featuring a real world mad scientist.
Harry Grindell Matthews is a potentially interesting character to inject into a Doctor Who game. The quintessential Mad Scientist he can be the source of a problem to be fixed, a bystander, a scientific contact or a source of assistance with a scientific problem.
Born on 17 March 1880 Grindell Matthews studied electrical engineering and was a prolific inventor, best known for his claims of having developed a 'death ray' in the 1920s.
History of inventions.
His first claimed invention was a radio-telephone which he said could communicate between an aircraft in flight and the ground at a distance of two miles which he called an 'Aerophone device'. After attracting government attention Grindell Matthews was asked to to demonstrate the device to the British Admiralty. However the secretive inventor cancelled the demonstration after (he claimed) catching four government observers dismantling part of his equipment, and taking notes of it. When the newspapers heard of this a storm of adverse publicity forced the War Office to to deny any such tampering. Later the government backtracked and said the matte was 'a misunderstanding'. The business soured relations between Grindell Matthews and the government.
After the First World War began Grindell Matthews demonstrated a remotely operated boat in response to a request from the Admiralty. The craft which Grindell Matthews stated used 'selenium cells' (presumable some type of photocell system) was successfully operated and the government duly paid him an award of £25,000, though the system was never used.
Grindell Matthews' next publicly announced invention was in 1921 where he claimed to have invented the world's first talking picture, a farewell interview of Ernest Shackleton recorded on 16 September 1921, just before Shackleton left on his final expedition (the fatal attempt at circumnavigating the Antarctic). The system was not commercially successful and was not the first talking-picture processes developed, though it may have been the first sound-on-film process. Three years later the Warner Brothers studio employed Grindell Matthews to work on aspects of sound films.
In 1923 Grindell Matthews' most infamous invention was announced, the 'Death Ray' with which he's most associated. The details are fuzzy, and the claims for the device varied over time; however initially he described it as a way to transmit energy wirelessly that could disable internal combustion engines by disrupting the action of the magneto. While various newspapers ran sensational stories on the device, the British government remained skeptical especially as Grindell Matthews refused to elaborate further on how the ray worked. Demonstrations were carried out in front of journalists in July 1923 (and published in Popular Radio magazine) in which a motor-bike engine was disabled, a small amount of black powder ignited, an incandescent light bulb powered wirelessly and a mouse killed by the ray after about a minute of operation. Wooden boards were also heated to the point of smouldering.
It's not known exactly what happened. Given Grindell Matthews history it's quite likely that at least part of the demonstration was genuine; it was done under controlled conditions and there's no way of knowing how much power was utilised by him in producing the limited effects seen.
Some scientists have suggested that Grindell Matthews succeeded in creating a crude version of the cavity magnetron by trial and error; this seems plausible and may explain his reluctance to demonstrate the ray further, as it would be almost impossible to duplicate without great effort. This would also match with Grindell Matthews claims that his experiments had damaged the sight in his left eye, such damage is known to occur from microwave heating.
Requests by the UK's War Office for the device to be demonstrated were refused and a confused mass of announcements, press stories, legal action, parliamentary questions, a car chase and escape to France, claims and counter-claims ensued until Grindell Matthews left to work for Warner Bros in the United States. He returned to Britain in late 1928 and in 1930 publicly demonstrated his 'Sky Projector' by projecting images onto clouds
In New York Grindell Matthews demonstrated the device by projecting the US flag over the city. However there was little commercial interest in his invention and Grindell Matthews faced bankruptcy in 1931.
By 1934 he was again in Britain, operating from a fortified laboratory complex and private airfied in Tor Clawdd, South Wales. From there he pursued his newest idea, a system of balloon and rocket deployed aerial mines as a defense against hostile aircraft; this was discussed with the Air Ministry but never utilised on a large scale. Other ideas he studied in the period were guided aerial rockets and a submarine detection system.
Grindell Matthews also wrote on the idea of an aircraft (the 'Stratoplane') that would fly in the upper atmosphere on the edge of space and other ideas related to space travel. He joined the British Interplanetary Society and actively advocated rocket and space research until his death in 1941.
Game Potential.
In the Whoniverse with less limitations on the potential for Mad Science and useful bits of alien technology lying around Grindell Matthews may have achieved much more. Hi death ray may have been functional, but suppressed either by him or others (Torchwood? The PCs?) to avoid repercussions on history.
Was his heart attack a natural event? Or was he poisoned (or zapped with a sigma ray needler) to prevent him form developing a new weapon, or other threat to reality? Was he dabbling in nuclear physics, or opening portals to other planets (or realities) perhaps?
Of course Grindell Matthews could work with a party, perhaps his abilities are needed to develop the device to prevent an alien incursion. Or maybe he's already a consultant for Torchwood or a similar organisation. Or UNIT, if his death was faked after he disappeared while fiddling with an alien warp engine and the time bubble dropped him into the future.
Give that his main period of work was the 1920s he's fit well into a Call of Cthulhu game, or a Pulp game in general, as a Mad Scientist. He could be linked to Gandalf Grey or Robert Victor Goddard.
A slightly fictionalised version could live longer and be a War Office consultant on weird stuff (like rumours of a commerce raider equipped with an alien device) or survive World War 2 and be a friend of Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish, or an advisor to the Intrusion Counter-measures Group, though he'd be eighty in 1960.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
Harry Grindell Matthews is a potentially interesting character to inject into a Doctor Who game. The quintessential Mad Scientist he can be the source of a problem to be fixed, a bystander, a scientific contact or a source of assistance with a scientific problem.
Born on 17 March 1880 Grindell Matthews studied electrical engineering and was a prolific inventor, best known for his claims of having developed a 'death ray' in the 1920s.
- There was a lot of interest in such devices in the period, especially as a possible defense against aircraft
History of inventions.
His first claimed invention was a radio-telephone which he said could communicate between an aircraft in flight and the ground at a distance of two miles which he called an 'Aerophone device'. After attracting government attention Grindell Matthews was asked to to demonstrate the device to the British Admiralty. However the secretive inventor cancelled the demonstration after (he claimed) catching four government observers dismantling part of his equipment, and taking notes of it. When the newspapers heard of this a storm of adverse publicity forced the War Office to to deny any such tampering. Later the government backtracked and said the matte was 'a misunderstanding'. The business soured relations between Grindell Matthews and the government.
After the First World War began Grindell Matthews demonstrated a remotely operated boat in response to a request from the Admiralty. The craft which Grindell Matthews stated used 'selenium cells' (presumable some type of photocell system) was successfully operated and the government duly paid him an award of £25,000, though the system was never used.
Grindell Matthews' next publicly announced invention was in 1921 where he claimed to have invented the world's first talking picture, a farewell interview of Ernest Shackleton recorded on 16 September 1921, just before Shackleton left on his final expedition (the fatal attempt at circumnavigating the Antarctic). The system was not commercially successful and was not the first talking-picture processes developed, though it may have been the first sound-on-film process. Three years later the Warner Brothers studio employed Grindell Matthews to work on aspects of sound films.
In 1923 Grindell Matthews' most infamous invention was announced, the 'Death Ray' with which he's most associated. The details are fuzzy, and the claims for the device varied over time; however initially he described it as a way to transmit energy wirelessly that could disable internal combustion engines by disrupting the action of the magneto. While various newspapers ran sensational stories on the device, the British government remained skeptical especially as Grindell Matthews refused to elaborate further on how the ray worked. Demonstrations were carried out in front of journalists in July 1923 (and published in Popular Radio magazine) in which a motor-bike engine was disabled, a small amount of black powder ignited, an incandescent light bulb powered wirelessly and a mouse killed by the ray after about a minute of operation. Wooden boards were also heated to the point of smouldering.
It's not known exactly what happened. Given Grindell Matthews history it's quite likely that at least part of the demonstration was genuine; it was done under controlled conditions and there's no way of knowing how much power was utilised by him in producing the limited effects seen.
Some scientists have suggested that Grindell Matthews succeeded in creating a crude version of the cavity magnetron by trial and error; this seems plausible and may explain his reluctance to demonstrate the ray further, as it would be almost impossible to duplicate without great effort. This would also match with Grindell Matthews claims that his experiments had damaged the sight in his left eye, such damage is known to occur from microwave heating.
Requests by the UK's War Office for the device to be demonstrated were refused and a confused mass of announcements, press stories, legal action, parliamentary questions, a car chase and escape to France, claims and counter-claims ensued until Grindell Matthews left to work for Warner Bros in the United States. He returned to Britain in late 1928 and in 1930 publicly demonstrated his 'Sky Projector' by projecting images onto clouds
- And causing a minor furor by producing such a realistic image of an angel on Christmas Eve 1930 frightening the religiously inclined into believing a divine appearance was happening.
- Unless there really were angels over London at the time...
In New York Grindell Matthews demonstrated the device by projecting the US flag over the city. However there was little commercial interest in his invention and Grindell Matthews faced bankruptcy in 1931.
By 1934 he was again in Britain, operating from a fortified laboratory complex and private airfied in Tor Clawdd, South Wales. From there he pursued his newest idea, a system of balloon and rocket deployed aerial mines as a defense against hostile aircraft; this was discussed with the Air Ministry but never utilised on a large scale. Other ideas he studied in the period were guided aerial rockets and a submarine detection system.
Grindell Matthews also wrote on the idea of an aircraft (the 'Stratoplane') that would fly in the upper atmosphere on the edge of space and other ideas related to space travel. He joined the British Interplanetary Society and actively advocated rocket and space research until his death in 1941.
Game Potential.
In the Whoniverse with less limitations on the potential for Mad Science and useful bits of alien technology lying around Grindell Matthews may have achieved much more. Hi death ray may have been functional, but suppressed either by him or others (Torchwood? The PCs?) to avoid repercussions on history.
- Perhaps the PCs find themselves in the position of having to dissuade Grindell Matthews from further research, either by appeals or playing on his poor relationship with authority. Kidnapping and impersonating Air Ministry officials, for example, to frustrate his demonstration. Or sabotage.
Was his heart attack a natural event? Or was he poisoned (or zapped with a sigma ray needler) to prevent him form developing a new weapon, or other threat to reality? Was he dabbling in nuclear physics, or opening portals to other planets (or realities) perhaps?
Of course Grindell Matthews could work with a party, perhaps his abilities are needed to develop the device to prevent an alien incursion. Or maybe he's already a consultant for Torchwood or a similar organisation. Or UNIT, if his death was faked after he disappeared while fiddling with an alien warp engine and the time bubble dropped him into the future.
- Well he was living in Wales, maybe something he was working on interacted with the Cardiff Rift. Or he was frozen in time for a few decades and emerged during the UNIT era causing a minor headache and necessitating his co-option. His relations with the Third Doctor would be interesting...
Give that his main period of work was the 1920s he's fit well into a Call of Cthulhu game, or a Pulp game in general, as a Mad Scientist. He could be linked to Gandalf Grey or Robert Victor Goddard.
A slightly fictionalised version could live longer and be a War Office consultant on weird stuff (like rumours of a commerce raider equipped with an alien device) or survive World War 2 and be a friend of Honoré Lechasseur and Emily Blandish, or an advisor to the Intrusion Counter-measures Group, though he'd be eighty in 1960.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?