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Re: engineers and scientists was [TCML] Wireless Transmission Theory



Peter,
   I remember reading the following quote somewhere.. 

"wisdom has two parts: 
(1) having a lot to say, and 
(2) not saying it. "
-unknown

No idea where it came from, but it seems to be the best approach to most things.. I've been so very busy with research and personal projects related to robotics, etc that there isn't much time for a dedicated coiling setup (though I've been working on it). I read the list usually based on topics that catch my eye and for some reason this subject hit home quite soundly. Take for instance:

"BTW: 
As 
a 
theoretical 
scientist, 
I 
can 
TIG 
weld, 
run 
a 
lathe, 
mill 
,  
etc., 
or 
any 
wood 
working 
device. 
Don't 
confuse 
skills 
with 
philosophy!
John 
W. 
G."

I have been a *strong* believer in the 'hands on' aspect of science and life in general, and if someday I am bestowed with the gift of a tenured position, this will be the mantra for many years to come. There are too many 'practical' skills overlooked in today's education system, so that the common 'engineer' strives to become nothing more than a manager. (not that having the skills to manage a group of individuals is a bad thing). I just see engineering for what it is.. Engineering. I'm not in it for the money, or the prestige of being famous or well-known but simply the sheer enjoyment of working in fantastic realms of the unknown  (ultrafast lasers for instance: pulse widths on the order of femtoseconds and instantaneous powers in the terawatt range) *and* the ability to create and manufacture just about anything . I try to instill this in nearly every one I meet and everything I do.. 

Sorry for getting so very OT.. I don't get to tell many people this, since quite a few of them don't understand.. ;)

Coiling In Pittsburgh
Ben McMillen



----- Original Message ----
From: Peter Terren <pterren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 7:38:09 AM
Subject: Re: engineers and scientists was [TCML] Wireless Transmission Theory


Ben, 
on 
my 
computer 
your 
enclosure 
of 
Jim 
Lux's 
reply 
was 
1 
word 
per 
line 
giving 
about 
20 
full 
pages. 
Probably 
a 
TCML 
record.

And 
in 
regard 
to 
the 
topic 
and 
your 
multiple 
degrees, 
I 
can 
only 
boast 
of 
dropping 
out 
of 
physics 
after 
the 
first 
year.  
Basically 
I 
just 
do 
pretty 
picures.....

Peter
www.tesladownunder.com

----- 
Original 
Message 
----- 
From: 
"Ben 
McMillen" 
<spoonman534@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 
"Tesla 
Coil 
Mailing 
List" 
<tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 
Sunday, 
February 
10, 
2008 
2:47 
PM
Subject: 
Re: 
engineers 
and 
scientists 
was 
[TCML] 
Wireless 
Transmission 
Theory


> 
Jim, 
all,
>  
 
As 
an 
engineer 
AND 
a 
scientist 
(currently 
a 
PhD 
candidate 
and 
the 
proud 
> 
recipient 
of 
two 
degrees 
in 
engineering) 
I'd 
like 
to 
comment 
that 
> 
engineers 
make 
the 
best 
scientists. 
Yes, 
we 
do 
to 
learn, 
but 
half 
the 
> 
learning 
is 
the 
doing. 
Every 
opportunity 
is 
another 
chance 
to 
practice 
the 
> 
'doing' 
to 
get 
to 
the 
final 
goal 
of 
understanding. 
If 
you're 
doing 
it 
> 
right, 
you're 
getting 
*both* 
for 
the 
price 
of 
one..
>
> 
No 
idea 
if 
this 
makes 
any 
sense, 
but 
it's 
always 
worked 
for 
me..
>
> 
Coiling 
In 
Pittsburgh
> 
Ben 
McMillen
>
>
> 
----- 
Original 
Message 
----
> 
From: 
Jim 
Lux 
<jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
To: 
Tesla 
Coil 
Mailing 
List 
<tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> 
Sent: 
Sunday, 
February 
10, 
2008 
12:08:07 
AM
> 
Subject: 
Re: 
engineers 
and 
scientists 
was 
[TCML] 
Wireless 
Transmission 
> 
Theory
>
>
> 
Ed
> 
Phillips
> 
wrote:
>>
> 
Hi
> 
Bill,
>>
>>
> 
Most
> 
engineers
> 
I've
> 
encountered
> 
are
> 
not
> 
like
> 
that
> 
in
> 
any
> 
way.
> 
They
> 
are
>>
> 
about
> 
physics
> 
and
> 
they
> 
will
> 
look
> 
at
> 
the
> 
world
> 
through
> 
the
> 
eyes
> 
of
> 
our
>>
> 
physical
> 
universe
> 
and
> 
not
> 
limit
> 
themselves
> 
to
> 
"any"
> 
theory.
> 
I
> 
of
> 
course
>>
> 
have
> 
met
> 
a
> 
few
> 
engineers
> 
stuck
> 
in
> 
their
> 
ways
> 
and
> 
nothing
> 
was
> 
going
> 
to
>>
> 
change
> 
them.
> 
But
> 
most
> 
are
> 
not
> 
like
> 
that.
> 
Don't
> 
stereotype
> 
engineers.
>>
> 
There
> 
are
> 
both
> 
engineers
> 
and
> 
physicist
> 
set
> 
in
> 
their
> 
ways
> 
and
> 
there
> 
are
>>
> 
both
> 
engineers
> 
and
> 
physicist
> 
with
> 
a
> 
brain
> 
to
> 
look
> 
further.
>>
>
> 
I
> 
figure
> 
I'll
> 
throw
> 
my
> 
words
> 
in
> 
before
> 
Chip
> 
kills
> 
this
> 
off.
>
> 
In
> 
my
> 
annual
> 
"career
> 
day"
> 
talk
> 
at
> 
my
> 
kid's
> 
schools
> 
I
> 
talk
> 
about
> 
what
> 
being
> 
an
> 
engineer
> 
is
> 
like..
> 
and
> 
how
> 
engineers
> 
differ
> 
from
> 
scientists.
> 
This
> 
is
> 
something
> 
I
> 
get
> 
to
> 
observe
> 
every
> 
day
> 
at
> 
work
> 
(JPL)
> 
and
> 
which
> 
interestingly,
> 
was
> 
also
> 
commented
> 
on
> 
by
> 
Steve
> 
Squyres
> 
in
> 
his
> 
book
> 
about
> 
the
> 
Mars
> 
Rovers.
>
> 
Obviously,
> 
it's
> 
not
> 
a
> 
Manichean
> 
thing
> 
with
> 
one
> 
or
> 
the
> 
other,
> 
more
> 
of
> 
a
> 
continuum,
> 
but
> 
a
> 
bimodal
> 
one.
>
> 
However..
> 
Scientists
> 
are
> 
driven
> 
by
> 
wanting
> 
to
> 
understand.
> 
Engineers
> 
are
> 
driven
> 
by
> 
wanting
> 
to
> 
do.
> 
The
> 
classic
> 
scientist
> 
might
> 
do
> 
experiments
> 
to
> 
better
> 
understand,
> 
but
> 
the
> 
goal
> 
is
> 
the
> 
understanding,
> 
not
> 
the
> 
doing
> 
the
> 
experiments.
> 
The
> 
engineer
> 
strives
> 
to
> 
do
> 
something,
> 
typically
> 
requiring
> 
some
> 
understanding,
> 
but
> 
there
> 
are
> 
lots
> 
of
> 
engineers
> 
who
> 
work
> 
totally
> 
empirically.
> 
Although,
> 
to
> 
me,
> 
what
> 
made
> 
engineering
> 
engineering
> 
(around
> 
the
> 
time
> 
of
> 
the
> 
Renaissance)
> 
was
> 
the
> 
change
> 
from
> 
doing
> 
it
> 
as
> 
a
> 
craft
> 
(do
> 
what
> 
worked
> 
before)
> 
was
> 
the
> 
use
> 
of
> 
a
> 
theoretical
> 
model
> 
to
> 
guide
> 
what
> 
you
> 
do
> 
next.
> 
For
> 
instance,
> 
I'm
> 
pretty
> 
impressed
> 
by
> 
what
> 
Roman
> 
engineers
> 
did
> 
2000
> 
years
> 
ago
> 
(aqueducts,
> 
bridges,
> 
the
> 
Pantheon),
> 
but
> 
I'm
> 
not
> 
totally
> 
convinced
> 
it
> 
was
> 
engineering
> 
in
> 
the
> 
modern
> 
sense.
> 
It
> 
might
> 
have
> 
been
> 
how
> 
medieval
> 
cathedrals
> 
were
> 
built..
> 
a
> 
collection
> 
of
> 
practical
> 
guidelines
> 
arrived
> 
at
> 
over
> 
many
> 
years
> 
of
> 
trial
> 
and
> 
error,
> 
without
> 
an
> 
understanding
> 
of
> 
why
> 
it
> 
works
> 
the
> 
way
> 
it
> 
does.
>
> 
Consider,
> 
for
> 
instance,
> 
building
> 
an
> 
aqueduct
> 
like
> 
the
> 
Pont
> 
du
> 
Gard.
> 
Sure,
> 
the
> 
Romans
> 
were
> 
able
> 
to
> 
achieve
> 
amazing
> 
feats
> 
of
> 
controlling
> 
the
> 
grade
> 
and
> 
roughness
> 
to
> 
get
> 
the
> 
water
> 
flow
> 
to
> 
work
> 
right.
> 
But,
> 
did
> 
they
> 
do
> 
this
> 
by
> 
applying
> 
experience
> 
(empiricism),
> 
essentially
> 
relying
> 
on
> 
trial
> 
and
> 
error.
> 
Or,
> 
did
> 
they
> 
understand
> 
hydraulics,
> 
and
> 
have
> 
some
> 
theoretical
> 
basis
> 
for
> 
knowing
> 
why
> 
to
> 
choose
> 
a
> 
particular
> 
slope,
> 
roughness,
> 
and
> 
channel
> 
width,
> 
from
> 
first
> 
principles.
>
> 
Likewise,
> 
consider
> 
the
> 
Pantheon
> 
in
> 
Rome:
> 
it's
> 
the
> 
largest
> 
self
> 
supporting
> 
dome
> 
in
> 
the
> 
world
> 
until
> 
Brunelleschi
> 
built
> 
the
> 
Duomo
> 
in
> 
Florence
> 
some
> 
1500
> 
years
> 
later.
> 
And
> 
it's
> 
still
> 
standing.
> 
An
> 
amazing
> 
feat,
> 
but,
> 
did
> 
they
> 
design
> 
it
> 
by
> 
analyzing
> 
stresses
> 
and
> 
figuring
> 
how
> 
thick
> 
to
> 
make
> 
the
> 
concrete,
> 
etc.
> 
Or,
> 
was
> 
it
> 
just
> 
built
> 
by
> 
scaling
> 
up
> 
earlier
> 
designs,
> 
and
> 
when
> 
they
> 
collapsed,
> 
making
> 
it
> 
bigger.
>
> 
An
> 
example
> 
of
> 
trial
> 
and
> 
error
> 
is
> 
pyramid
> 
building.
> 
The
> 
pyramid
> 
of
> 
Zoser
>
> 
in
> 
Maidun
> 
collapsed
> 
while
> 
the
> 
outer
> 
casing
> 
was
> 
being
> 
built.
> 
The
> 
pyramid
> 
at
> 
Dashur
> 
was
> 
being
> 
built
> 
at
> 
the
> 
same
> 
time
> 
(but
> 
started
> 
some
> 
10-15
> 
years
> 
later),
> 
and
> 
they
> 
thought
> 
the
> 
collapse
> 
was
> 
due
> 
to
> 
being
> 
too
> 
steep,
> 
so
> 
they
> 
reduced
> 
the
> 
angle
> 
midway
> 
up,
> 
producing
> 
the
> 
bent
> 
pyramid.
>
> 
Later
> 
it
> 
was
> 
apparently
> 
determined
> 
that
> 
the
> 
problem
> 
was
> 
more
> 
how
> 
the
> 
courses
> 
of
> 
stone
> 
were
> 
laid
> 
(it
> 
couldn't
> 
resist
> 
the
> 
compressional
> 
loading,
> 
and
> 
essentially,
> 
the
> 
weight
> 
of
> 
the
> 
top
> 
courses
> 
squished
> 
the
> 
bottom
> 
courses
> 
out,
> 
like
> 
a
> 
watermelon
> 
seed
> 
between
> 
your
> 
fingers),
> 
so
> 
later
> 
designs
> 
essentially
> 
had
> 
the
> 
courses
> 
sloping
> 
rather
> 
than
> 
flat.
>
> 
I
> 
don't
> 
know
> 
that
> 
pyramid
> 
architects
> 
actually
> 
figured
> 
this
> 
out
> 
by
> 
analyzing
> 
the
> 
forces,
> 
or
> 
by
> 
just
> 
doing
> 
some
> 
empirical
> 
experiments.
>
>
> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
list
> 
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> 
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>
>
>
>
>
>
> 
> 
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