The little known story of the man who, in 1903, created the world's first gas turbine engines (a category that includes jet engines) which delivered a positive power output.
40 years later Ellings invention made headlines. 50 years later they heralded the start of mass air travel.
I post this, because today the world is in the same situation as Elling was, as it struggles to harness nuclear fusion. It can achieve positive output, but doesn't have the materials or methods to do it in large scale without melting the reactor!

Anyway it is an interesting article:-
[rivieramm.com]