Eric Laithwaite was a scientist who studied magnets and how they move things. Imagine you have a magnet and some paper clips. When you put the magnet near the paper clips, they might stick to the magnet. That's because the magnet has a special power called magnetism.
Eric Laithwaite wanted to learn more about how magnets work and how we can use them to move things. He did all kinds of experiments with magnets and made some really cool machines.
One of his most famous machines was called the "Magnetic River." It was a track with magnets on it, and he put a train on the track. The train didn't have any wheels or engines, but it still moved because of the magnets.
Eric Laithwaite loved to share his ideas with other people, and he even gave talks on TV to teach everyone about the cool things he was discovering. People all over the world were amazed by his work and learned a lot from him.