Sgt James Shearer

November 27th, 2006

Sergeant James Shearer was an auxiliary nurse in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War. Whilst stationed in France, Shearer designed and built a machine which he christened Shearer’s Delineator. The Delineator was a small box which could be pointed at a patient. Pressing a button produced a diagram of the patient peppered with small holes which denoted the presence of disease.

The British Medical Journal hailed it as a life-saving device. Shearer then claimed that the device could treat as well as detect disease, to great acclaim.Bouyed by his rising status, Shearer went one further and claimed that the Delineator could be adapted to detect incoming enemy aircraft (these were pre-radar days). At this point, the British intelligence service became very interested and sent agents to investigate Shearer’s claims. They opened the Delineator, revealing nothing more than a strip of wax paper that was fed under the barrel or a toy pianola, punching the prerequisite holes.

Sergeant James Shearer was court martialled for his fraud, found guilty, and executed.

Shearer’s Delineator bears a striking resemblance to Abram’s Osccilloclast, another “magic box” for diagnosing and curing disease that appeared not long after.

Entry Filed under: Bad Scientists

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