Chapter the Fourth: On the Eternal Conflict Between Natural and Supernatural Forces
Up to this point, our experiments have served only to illustrate the principles of Natural Law. The purpose of the exercises in this chapter, however, is to demonstrate the fundamental conflict between Natural Law and its nemesis, Supernatural Law—Natural Law being represented by a variety of simple Technological Devices, while Supernatural Law is embodied by an equally simple Magickal Device. Like all our experiments, these exercises were chosen for their lucid design and straightforward execution; they should prove suitable for students of all ages.
Laboratorie #1 The Inclined Plane
As you may recall, we have demonstrated the Inclined Plane and explained its uses in a previous lesson. This is a simple machine, the purpose of which is to reduce the difficulty of moving objects from place to place. Even the simplest country farmer understands the uses of this device: it is always easier to push a heavy load down a ramp than it is to push the same load across even ground! There are two principles of Natural Law at work, but the one that most concerns us most in this experiment is known as “the Coefficient of Friction”.
Here we place an object upon the Inclined Plane: for purposes of this experiment, we have chosen a simple block of stone. Note that when the Inclined Plane C is placed at a sharp angle, Block A will automatically begin to slide down the Plane, without any extra Force being applied. Remember the farmer’s load up on the ramp; if the ramp is steep, he does not need to push the cart at all. It will roll down of its own accord.
On the other hand, Block A will not slide of its own accord if our Inclined Plane is given a lesser angle. There is some innate resistance to its motion down the Plane; this resistance to motion is what we call the Coefficient of Friction. The lower this Coefficient, the smaller the angle of the Plane must be, in order to make the Block slide.
Begin the experiment with your Inclined Plane at its most acute angle, nearly flat upon the table. Take Block A, and place it on Inclined Plane C: note that the Block does not slide. Having observed this high Coefficient of Friction, tilt Inclined Plane C slowly, a few degrees at a time, until that Friction is overcome, and your Block does begin to slide. Having now found the precise angle necessary for the Block to slide of its own accord, lower the angle of the Plane by a degree or two. We have now established a precarious balance, in which the Coefficient of Friction is only just high enough to overcome the angle of the Plane. The aforementioned Coefficient is almost, but not quite, low enough to allow Block A to slide.
Introduce a Magickal Artifacte into the system. Slowly bring it into the vicinity of Inclined Plane C. Notice that Block A begins to slide haltingly downward! The angle of the Plane has not changed, nor has the nature of the block...but the Magickal Artifacte slightly alters the Coefficient of Friction in its immediate proximity.
This alteration is unstable and unpredictable, causing the Block to slide in a variable manner. It is this same unpredictability and instability in all Magickal Effects which makes compensation for these Effects on a machine impossible. Even a small change in the Coefficient of Friction can and will cause gears to grind, belts to break, and cogs to catch and stick—with disastrous consequences!
Laboratorie #2: The Swinging Pendulum
The principle of the Pendulum was discovered by early Technologists, as you may recall. It was early established that the period for the back-and-forth Oscillation of any Pendulum of a given Length is always the same, no matter how large its arc or how heavy its bob may be. For this reason, Pendulums make excellent time-keeping devices, as they are less dependent on Temperature Variations than spring-based clocks.
Let us start our second experiment, then, with three pendulums. Begin by setting your three Pendulums a-swing: while they are swinging, measure their periods with a Pocket Watch or Water Clock. Our first superficial observation is that the Pendulums with longer rods swing more slowly than those with shorter rods: in fact, the period of any pendulum is mathematically exact, and it can be expressed as a mathematical formula. To find the period, we have only to extract the square root of the rod’s length.
Now introduce the Magickal Artifacte while the Pendulums are still swinging. Note how the swinging becomes erratic! Some Pendulums swing more slowly, while others swing faster than we would predict by the use of our previously reliable mathematical formula. The variance in the new periods of these pendulums is no longer proportional to the length, mass, or arc of the rod: the only factor is the proximity of the offending Artifacte, and even this is not reliable enough to be predicted.
As in our first experiment, the variance is wild. The consequences for any machine which depends upon regular oscillations for its function are immediate and catastrophic. In the presence of Supernatural Force, clocks will go awry, engines throw their rods, and metronomes dance the tarantella; it is an unavoidable side effect of disrupting the Natural Laws associated with oscillation.
Comments