The Disintegration Machine is a story featuring Doyles famous character Professor Challenger. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in January 1929. The story centers on the discovery of a machine capable of disintegrating objects and reforming them as they were. This short story is a part of the Challenger series, a collection of stories about the wealthy eccentric adventurer Professor Challenger. Unlike Conan Doyles laid-back, analytic character, Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger is an aggressive, dominating figure. The professor is described as a lion of a man with a full beard and a rotund physique. One day, he is interrupted by the young journalist, Malone, to go investigate a machine designed by Latvian inventor, Theodore Nemor.