In 1960, Roger Babson, founder of Babson College, gave Colby
$12,500 worth of shares in the American Agricultural Chemical Company (now
Dupont). There were two conditions to Babson's gift. One was that the
stock not be sold for 35 years. At that time the shares were worth $2.7
million, and, in accordance with Babson's wishes, the money has been used
to upgrade Colby's science facilities and equipment. The other condition
was that Colby erect a monument to anti-gravity study. Babson's son had
been killed in a plane crash, and his grandson had drowned, so Babson had
dedicated much time and money to scientific research in an attempt to
prove that gravity is a myth. Colby installed the Anti-Gravity Stone in
the center of the quad. Students, however, repeatedly tipped the stone
over, forcing the College to cement it to a granite base.
That story was printed on Thurs, Feb 7th, 2002 and will eventually appear on Colby's forthcoming "Myths & Legends" page. I copied it by hand on 9/13/2002 and reproduced it here.
The text on the stone reads...
This monument has been
erected by the
Gravity Research Foundation
Roger W. Babson founder
It is to remind students of
the blessings forthcoming
when a semi-insulator is
discovered in order to harness
gravity as a free power
and reduce airplane accidents
1960
very large (648k) picture I'll scale it later. Blah blah CS 151 field trip version blah blah pictures blah blah
The stone used to sit in front of Keyes, but then drunk kids kept knocking it over (wouldn't you?) so it was moved to across the street from Olin far enough away so that it can't be read from the road. Apparently there are another dozen or so of these things floating aroud at other New England area schools. I'm told the Tufts one is on the small side and as a prank it's often put in high places (on the roof of a building, etc.) The Echo (campus newspaper) used to run a story on it every 5 years or so, which was basically older versions pasted together in a new format, but it hasn't happened again in a while.
I am not making this up. <kjseptor at colby.edu>
Last Modified: Sat Feb 15 12:58:27 EST 2003