Roger Ward Babson
New Boston, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire
Marker Inscription
Here at New Boston, N.H. Roger W. Babson and his associates prioneered in active research for anti-gravity and a partial gravity insulator 1959
The Story
Placed in 1959, this granite marker commemorates Roger W. Babson and his colleagues' earnest research into anti-gravity through the Gravity Research Foundation he founded in New Boston. Babson, the entrepreneur and forecaster behind Babson College, poured his fortune into a quixotic quest to conquer gravity after a family drowning.
Why it matters
It captures a distinctly American faith in bold, sometimes eccentric invention β the conviction that no natural force is beyond human ingenuity.
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Related people
- Β· Roger W. Babson
Related events
- Β· Gravity Research Foundation
Themes & tags
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