Readers can send contributions so that they too have a chance of recovering lost stories. Good Luck to us all in our quest. Naturally enough, the scientist works for a museum just loaded with statues of Greek gods, animals and such. Also naturally enough, once he discovers the powers of the ring he starts turning selected statues to living flesh. Unfortunately, he finds some quirky personalities coming to life and this causes complications.
Statues are brought to life, people are turned to statues, it gets real complicated.
Sadly, I never got to finish this story, as it was a book my father had once when I was visiting him. I read it about 40 years ago, so this is not too surprising. This is a tale of an extraordinary inventor. I think you see my point. Obviously this man achieves great wealth and influence, which he then uses to construct a nearly indestructible faster than light ship using his reactionless drive, which he and his buddies then use to go exploring the Andromeda Galaxy.