Posted on 01/20/2020 10:00:05 AM PST by oh8eleven
“Not every man has an impact this huge and remain essentially unknown.”
Philo T. Farnsworth is my favorite who fits that same mold.
..natural born killer...
~~~~~~~~~~~
If anything, that's an understatement!
When I was in the EG&G building, fairly often there would be a big WHUMP! that shook the entire building.
When I commented about it, my host said, "That's just Doc down in the basement -- playing with his 'Thumper'... Would you like to meet him?"
Of course, I said, "Yes, please!"
In the basement, Doc had big, open tanks of water, set into the concrete floor. In the tanks there were huge capacitors -- built with deliberately-loose plates.
Doc "switched into professor mode" and explained that, when he was developing brighter and quicker flashes (to "freeze" motion) he noticed that when he discharged the huge capacitor banks thru the flash tube, the capacitor plates flexed and "thumped".
Instead of working to reduce the noise, he wondered, "How big a" thump" could I get if I built capacitors with deliberately-loose plates?" When I met him, he was was working to get maximum "thump" for minimum electrical charge expenditure.
He was using the "thumps" as "audio pings"for his new "Side-scan SONAR" unit.
Then he proudly showed us the world's first side-scan SONAR images -- of the Charles River and Boston Harbor. The bottom was beautifully profiled -- with several obvious shipwrecks lying on it. And, deep beneath the bottom, there was an obvious arch-shaped object. When I pointed to it, Doc said, "Oh -- that's the Sumner (automobile) Tunnel..."
~~~~~~~~~
Doc -- and EG&G -- capitalized on observing, measuring and recording all sorts of phenomena -- and then, figuring out how to make use of them.
Frankly, my career followed Doc's example: several of my patents were based on making creative use of the physics of microelectronic device failure mechanisms that I'd identified and eliminated....
Bottom line: "Doc" Edgerton was one of the most charming, impressive -- and influential (in my life) humans I ever had the privilege of meeting!
TXnMA
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/408868/the-nessie-quest/
~~~~~~~~~~~
I've only visited MIT for conferences.
Also, I'm not at liberty to discuss more about my sojourn at EG&G. And, I'm required to neither confirm nor deny any speculation on that subject...
Sorry... :-{
TXnMA
Sooooooooookay!
My undergrad years were spent in Boston, and we attended many conferences/lectures at MIT that were open to other students. Can you imagine? .... being in a modestly sized seminar room w/ Rev. Billy Graham debating Mario Savio [most noted for his Berkeley Free Speech Movement escapades.]
Rev. Graham ripped Savio a new one on talks extended over a two night period. Savio was smart but no match for Dr. Graham. Wish those talks had been recorded. It was quite something.
Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the 60s. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.