In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was studying issues of vibrations and sensitivity of devices used on naval ships during the Second World War, when an unexpected event occurred in his life. As noted by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Richard James knocked over a tension spring from a shelf while at work in a Philadelphia shipyard and observed that the spring did not collapse but walked itself across the floor instead.
This phenomenon immediately attracted his attention since it seemed very alive and unusual to him. The training Richard received helped him recognize the importance of such phenomena in terms of the mechanical aspect of the problem.
