APassionforScience - Sprott's Gateway

A Passion for Science

c Julien Clinton Sprott1 December 31, 2015

1Nonexclusive rights are granted to any individual or organization wishing to reproduce or distribute this work in whole or in part provided its authorship is clearly indicated.

ii Dedicated to my parents without whom none of this would have happened.

Preface

Memoirs means when you put down the good things you ought to have done and leave out the bad ones you did do. --Will Rogers

When one spends seven decades consuming worldly resources and benefitting from the efforts and kindness of others, it seems fitting to give something back in the form of a written record of one's experiences and the wisdom gained over a lifetime. This book is my effort to do that. It is not an autobiography, nor even a conventional memoir, but rather a collection of short narratives recounting events that influenced the choices that I made in life and short essays describing some of my theories and ideas, arranged somewhat chronologically, but with considerable overlap. It is a work in progress and will be continually updated as time and inspiration permit.1

While I do not have biological descendants (to my knowledge) who would be a natural audience for this work, I have had the good fortune to spend a lifetime as a university professor working closely with about a hundred graduate and undergraduate research students, teaching about ten thousand physics undergraduates, and reaching at least a hundred thousand children and adults through live and recorded presentations of The Wonders of Physics. Add to that the readers of my books, publications, and website,2 my relatives, friends, and colleagues, as well as curious strangers and possible future historians, and I have reason to hope that this work will be read by others in addition to the considerable pleasure that its writing has given me.

There is always the danger that I have remembered things incorrectly or said things that are inaccurate or incomplete, and I welcome corrections or criticisms, especially if those things pertain to you. The index at the end includes the name of everyone mentioned here except for a few people who are mentioned only by first names to protect their privacy.

1The current version of this document is at . 2Sprott's Gateway is at .

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An underlying theme is the passion for science that I have had since my earliest days, and how this was nourished as a child, developed as a student, and exploited as a scientist. I hope to inspire some youngsters to follow in my footsteps, even as I followed those before me and perhaps avoid some of the mistakes I have made. My lasting contribution to society is most likely to be the research I have done, the things I have written, and the lives I have influenced. I hope you will take pleasure and inspiration in reading the words that follow.

Julien Clinton Sprott Madison, Wisconsin

December, 2015

Contents

Preface

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Contents

vi

1 The Memphis Belle

1

2 Adventures of Two Young Hams

7

3 The Awkward Athlete

19

4 Forays into Physics

29

5 To God and Back

41

6 Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

49

7 Multipoles, Mirrors, and Microwaves

59

8 The Persistent Pilot

69

9 The Proud Professor

79

10 The Wonders of Physics

91

11 A Night at Sea

101

12 An Encounter with Chaos

107

13 Strange Attractors

117

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