Daedalus (fictional inventor)

Daedalus is a fictional inventor created by David E. H. Jones for his Ariadne column in the New Scientist and The Guardian, and which is currently featured in Nature.

Daedalus's imaginary inventions are solidly grounded in science — usually just within the bounds of technical feasibility, and often prophetic.

For example, he once designed a locomotive fueled by fine grass shavings, to be gathered en route by a lawnmower installed in place of the usual cowcatcher. According to Daedalus's computations, the natural growth of grass planted between the rails would produce enough shavings to propel a fully-laden train every hour.

In the columns, Daedalus' inventions are often developed by the fictional company DREADCO.

Books

• The Inventions of Daedalus: A Compendium of Plausible Schemes, by David E. H. Jones. W. H. Freeman (1982); ASIN 0716714124, ISBN 0716714124

• The Further Inventions of Daedalus, by David E.H. Jones. Oxford University Press (1999); ISBN 0198504691.