Based on recent legend (circa today) the ESA President has the prerogative to obtain information from sources other than high tech journals when writing a President's Message. Thus, in this Presidet's Message I am going to build on a very interesting list of principles that I found catalogued in an old Dear Abby column. According to this column James A. Garfield, a college professor who went into politics and later became the 20th United States President, carried the following list of personal principles in his pocket every day.
Never be idle.
Make few promises.
Always speak the truth.
Live within your income.
Never speak evil of anyone.
Keep good company or none.
Live up to your engagements.
Never play games of chance.
Drink no intoxicating drinks.
Good character is above everything else.
Keep your own secrets if you have any.
Never borrow if you can possibly help it.
Do not marry until you are able to support a wife.
When you speak to a person, look into his (or her) eyes.
Save when you are young to spend when you are old.
Never run into debt unless you see a way out again.
Good company and good conversation are the sinews of virtue.
Your character cannot be essentially injured except by your own acts.
If anybody speaks evil of you, let your life be so that no one believes him.
When you retire at night, think over what you have done during the day.
If your hands cannot be employed usefully, attend to the culture of your mind.
Read the above carefully and thoughtfully at least once a week.
Garfield's list of guiding principles seems to fit the Membership of the ESA. In fact it occurred to me that most engineers and scientists who I have met follow these principles, with perhaps the exception of the occasional imbibing in an alcoholic beverage. But even here the frugal nature of the technical mind tends to keep the alcohol level low.
The third principle from the end in the list is especially striking, since most of us tend to fall asleep rethinking what we have done in science or engineering that day and planning for the next day. However, if we are engaged in electrostatics we might want to add one more to the list:
Always "GIVE and TAKE" in electrostatics each year.
What is meant by this principle? The second part, the TAKE, is simple and is essentially practiced by all of us. Namely, we should make sure we have improved our knowledge in electrostatics each year by taking new electrostatics information and planting it in our minds. But the first part, the GIVE, must also come into our character. That is, we must also make sure we make an effort each year to share with others the (non-proprietary) technical information we have learned during our lifetime. We should always give back something to the pool from which we drink. Although this can be in the form of publications and patents, it can also be in discussions with our peers (such as occurs at an ESA meeting), or it can be as simple as having an interchange with a local high school science teacher or science class.
To paraphrase this added principle, we should always be able to look back over any year and be able to claim we have improved both our own knowledge in electrostatics and the knowledge of others. This year is coming to a close. How did we do? Good, I hope.
For the Friendly Society,
Al Seaver
It is now possible to add your e-mail address to the ESA Home Page. Adding your name to this list is done on a voluntary basis by sending an e-mail message to the web page writer (Mark Horenstein) at mnh@bu.edu and requesting that your name be included. You must be an ESA member to be added to the list. There is no cost involved.
The IEJ-ESA 1996 Joint Symposium on Electrostatics was an outstanding success and all who attended found the experience both technically rewarding and extremely enjoyable. Many thanks to the IEJ planning Committee and especially to Prof. Kazutoshi Asano who coordinated the ESA visitors and to Prof. Tetsuji Oda who coordinated local arrangements and gave ESA members a tour of his excellent laboratory at the University of Tokyo. Thanks are also due to Dr. Joe Crowley and his lovely wife Barbara who coordinated the development of the Symposium Proceedings. The Proceedings can be obtained from the IEJ (contact Prof. Oda; E-mail: oda@ee.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp), and about a dozen copies will be sold in the USA through the bookstore: Electrostatic Source (408) 779-7774 or E-mail: electro@garlic.com. The cost is $35.00 each.
Prof. Markus Zahn has made arrangements to make available videotape copies of Prof. James R. Melcher's classic color movie entitled "Electric Fields and Moving Media." This professionally produced movie contains some of the most interesting electrohydrodynamic phenomena ever recorded on color film, and the narrative, delivered by Prof. Melcher himself, is superb. After a significant delay, caused by a futile attempt to locate the original 35 mm film master, it has been decided to make all videotape copies from an existing videotape
sub-master made from a 16 mm copy of the movie. The quality will not be quite as high as it would have been if made from the original; however, the cost will be lower and the quality quite adequate for general purposes. Prof. Zahn at MIT has obtained approval from the copyright holder, Educational Development Corp. in Newton, Mass., and has kindly consented to make the copies available at the following prices which include shipping and handling cost.
1. NTSC-$25.00 each (this is the standard format in the USA)
2. PAL version-$50.00 each
3. SECAM Version-$50.00 each
If you want to purchase this videotape, please specify the format (NTSC, PAL or SECAM) and send this format information and a check in US dollars drawn on a US bank made out to MIT EECS Videotapes to:
Prof. Markus Zahn
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 10-174
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617-253-4688
Fax: 617-258-6774
e-mail: zahn@mit.edu
It is important that you notify Prof. Zahn immediately if you want a copy of the tape, because the number of people requesting the tape will determine the number of tapes to be produced.
Although I have not seen the original report, I understand that the National Research Council , after examining some 500 studies conducted over the past 17 years, has determined that exposure to electromagnetic fields such as those associated with power lines and home appliances, pose no health threat.
This report should put to rest the many claims that have been circulated during the past few years. This assumes that the stature of the National Research Council is such that their conclusions will have weight with the general public and the courts. Much has happened that would seem to cause people to look upon any conclusion drawn by scientific bodies as being somewhat doubtful. Perhaps this has come about because of the numerous scientific conclusions that have been "leaked" to the press and which have proved to be inaccurate at a later date. In this light the doubting attitude of the general public might well be blamed upon scientists themselves. It would appear that all should be more careful in the information that is "aired".
Emery Miller
I have just received from Joe Crowley a copy of the proceedings of this joint session held in Japan in October and have reviewed it in detail since it was in English. This publication is full of interesting papers which were presented at the Symposium and could well be worthy of your consideration.
Emery Miller
At the June 1996 ESA Conference, I purchased several books from Barbara Crowley. This one is the first I devoured. It's very good.
Six chapters cover human tissue response, lightning injuries, accidents, and various therapeutic uses of electricity. The lightning chapter is the shortest and the remaining chapters are heavy with medical terminology. This may drive away some physical scientists, but if you want real details, this is an excellent place to look.
All of the classic information is here: the electric chair, household voltages, lightning currents, fibrillation of the heart, let-go current. Each is presented with accuracy, clarity, and references to the literature. Geddes is one of the few that seems comfortable with both electricity and physiology.
One more use for the book should be mentioned. The first chapter titled “Electrical Accidents” is an excellent introduction. It should be read by anyone involved with industrial safety. And it can be read alone with understanding.
Glenn Schmieg
We have received a copy of Issue 19 of this journal which, according to information on the cover, is published to "serve as an interactive platform addressed to those doing research and experiments in the areas of antigravity and electric and magnetic technologies useful for spacecraft propulsion". The Journal is edited by ESA member Charles A. Yost who attended our Milwaukee Conference and who some of you may have met. In this Journal the Editor has presented a very complete summary of his experiences as an attendee at the Conference and describes a number of the talks and experiments presented there. He apparently was impressed by the hospitality extended by our group, the free exchange of knowledge, and the group's "pragmatic and practical" approach to things electrostatic. We are most happy to have had his reaction to our efforts. The Journal is an interesting attempt to give people working in the fringes of modern science an outlet for their views and to permit them to exchange views with others.
Emery Miller
There are several areas of applied electrostatics that have an old classic book - often referred to for early references - and even sometimes for a particularly clear passage. If you are a long-time worker in the field, you probably own such books. But for the younger worker such books are often out of print and totally unavailable.
In the area of precipitation, there is Industrial Electrostatic Precipitation by Harry White, and in separation, there is Electrostatic Separation of Mixed Granular Solids, by O. C. Ralston.
I have an extra copy of these two books. I'll send either one to you free if you promise to read it.
Glenn Schmieg
Professor Stuart Hoenig at the University of Arizona has been asked about the possibility of eliminating, or at least reducing pond scum. Stu has experience in decreasing several kinds of pollution, but this is one that is new to him. He wonders if any of our members might have information which would be helpful to him. Send comments to Dr. Hoenig at INTERNET: hoenig@azstarnet.com
Molten chocolate bars have become one of the latest electro-rheological fluids undergoing study. As with other examples of this type, a stiff gel is formed when an electric field is applied to a fluid of lower viscosity.
Member Anne Benninghoff forwarded an article describing this research at Michigan State University. The article says "liquids that undergo this type of change (known as the Winslow effect) have been called 'smart fluids' because they can continuously and rapidly respond, through computer controls, to changes in a machine's environment, including the potholes that disrupt the smooth ride of a car over the road".
Now a challenge for our members. Let us call Hershey bars and other similar fluids electro-thickening. Then, is there a fluid which is electro-thinning? I don't know of any. And if we had one, what would it be used for?
Glenn Schmieg
ESA member Matt Aldisi is presenting a seminar on the subject of Inherently Conductive Polymers at the Princess Resort in San Diego, CA on March 3 - 5, 1997. Contact Dr. Aldisi by phone at 508-540-9587 or by Fax at 508-540-7621.
Dr. Aldisi is also planning a Fall 1997 seminar dealing with the electrostatic application of conductive polymers and coatings and would like suggestions for speakers. Contact him with suggestions at the above numbers.