George Walter de la Warr (19 August 1904 – 31 March 1969) was an English civil engineer and a pioneer in the field of

radionics Radionics—also called electromagnetic therapy (EMT) and the Abrams method—is a form of alternative medicine that claims that disease can be diagnosed and treated by applying electromagnetic radiation (EMR), such as radio waves, to the bod ...

. In 1953, he resigned from his engineering position with

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

to work within the discredited field of radionics. His devices were denounced by medical experts.

Career

According to Langston Day's 1956 book ''New Worlds Beyond the Atom'', written in collaboration with de la Warr, de la Warr passed the Associate Membership examination of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers by the age of 20 and three years later, passed the examination for the Institution of Civil Engineers. He then held various engineering positions before becoming chief engineering assistant for the

, a position he held for 16 years. De la Warr was influenced by the devices of Ruth B. Drown and

Albert Abrams Albert Abrams (December 8, 1863 – January 13, 1924) was a fraudulent American physician, well known during his life for inventing machines, such as the "Oscilloclast" and the "Radioclast", which he falsely claimed could diagnose and cure almost ...

. De la Warr invented devices that he said could identify symptoms such as "toxins", "fracture", and "secretion imbalance". He also claimed to have invented a camera that could detect and cure diseases by remote control. In June 1960, he was sued in the High Court by Catherine Phillips, a disgruntled former customer who said that her health had been ruined by using the Delawarr Diagnostic Instrument. In particular, she said that the box could not possibly have the benefits that de la Warr claimed for it. De la Warr said that his device operated above the physical plane, and the box was only used as a focus for thought. After ten days of argument, the judge eventually found for de la Warr, but considered the box to be bogus. He founded Delawarr Laboratories in Oxford where he did his research and built many radionic devices. Delawarr Laboratories closed in 1987. Most of the radionic artifacts have unknown whereabouts. However, the radionic camera was given to Marcel J. Vogel, Psychic Research Inc. in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. Vogel and Dan Willis did extensive tests and trials with the camera. Vogel died in 1992. The whereabouts of the camera since then is unknown. Leslie Weatherhead, who had known de la Warr, had supported his devices.

Criticism

De la Warr's radionic devices have been criticized by health experts as

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

. De la Warr was also notable for making unproven claims such using a photograph of

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

on his machine to kill pests in a field miles away.

Patents

*French patent number 1,084,318 – "Perfectionnements à la recherche d'une radiation fondamentale" *UK patent number 741,651 – "Therapeutic apparatus" *UK patent number 761,976 – "Therapeutic apparatus"

Publications

*''Experiments Relating to Increases in Crop Yield by Radionic Stimulation'' (1955) *''New Worlds Beyond the Atom'' (1956; written by Langston Day in collaboration with de la Warr) *''Matter in the Making'' (1966; written by Langston Day in collaboration with de la Warr)

Career

Criticism

Patents

Publications

References

Further reading