Jim,

On Apr 6, 3:06 pm, Bill Schwab wrote:
....
Well done - just don't mention permitivity or you'll get an earful

Bill

I'm pretty good with electrical engineering too. One of my tasks as a
lab and CAD room manager at MITRE was showing young EE co-op students
how to use the schematic capture and simulation tools. That quickly
turned into how to make simple, practical, efficient designs instead
of the cookbook stuff they knew from textbooks. One guy used a relay
coil to sense low battery voltage in a portable device. In addition to
opening when the batteries discharged, it significantly hastened it.




Another ordered a case of Polaroid film for the scope camera to figure
out exactly how fuses blow. He was really downcast when I showed him
the I-squared-T curves in the back of the Littelfuse catalog. They
knew the theory reasonably well but none of the practical details.

High speed images can be useful, even when we understand why something
happens. I have never had the fun myself, but heard lots of war stories
about having cameras control events to get the timing right. At 100,000
frames per second (!!!!), the event has to be ready when the camera is
running.



When I received my chemistry degree the profs told us
'Congratulations, but you aren't yet a chemist. What we've taught you
qualifies you to listen and understand when you get a job and they
explain how everything really works.'

That's about right. I might phrase it a little differently, but formal
education prepares one to begin the real learning.



The earfulls at MITRE were about digital radio communication theory,
which makes thermodynamics look easy.

Somehow I suspect I might see it the other way around - thermodynamics
is too much like chemistry for my tastes. Takes all kinds.

Bill