Perpetum Mobile : Jacob Rabinow

While in his early forties, Rabinow came across an article, which said people lose their creativity as they get older. He became interested in exploring the truth of the article’s assertion. Rabinow began plotting the number of ideas he recorded in his notebook versus his age, also noting significant life events. The exercise led him to the conclusion that age has no correlation with creativity. Indeed, into his late eighties, Rabinow was a whirl of creative energy, inventing for fun, for profit, and to help friends and colleagues in need of his skills. During his later years, he also played tennis, gave public lectures, shot photographs, and attended award ceremonies, most often as the recipient.

While finding the article’s assertion to be false, Rabinow also discovered that his creative output grew during the periods of his life when he was in business for himself. During his self-employed days, he had time to pursue his ideas and had the mechanics at his disposal to help him conceptualize through quick and expert model making. The critical factor was not his age, but control of time and staff.

Objects :
Continuously Variable-Speed Friction Transmission, ca. 1994
Balanced Force Anti-Spin Friction Transmission, ca. 1994
Swash Plate Mechanism, ca. 1992