Author D. Moore taught at the University of Michigan and upon retirement entured into the world of electrostatics. He loved electrostatics and wanted others to experience his excitement in the subject. In time he developed a traveling electrostatics show which he took to colleges and high schools throughout the United States.
A. D., as he was so often called, also wanted an organization where he and others could meet to discuss electrostatics. To reach that goal he and V. J. Schaefer chaired the Adirondack Conference on Electrostatics in the fall of 1968. As a result of that meeting the Electrostatics Society of America (ESA) was founded on August 17, 1970 at Ann Arbor, Michigan with 16 Charter Members. A. D. became the founding father and first President of the Society. He wanted the ESA to be relaxed and informal, and to this day many of its members refer to the ESA as the Friendly Society.
The ESA was 25 years old in August, 1995, and this June at the University of Georgia we will observe the 25th Annual Meeting of the Society. In recognition of A. D.'s goal to stimulate interest in electrostatics the ESA Executive Council authorized the expenditure of funds for a new edition of A. D.'s book on electrostatics to be sent to all of the ESA Membership. It is hoped that each member will in turn give this book as a present to a young mind so that he or she can experience the excitement that A. D. gave to electrostatics.
At the end of the book A. D.'s children have written a beautiful tribute to their father that gives the reader a little more insight into the character of this fascinating man. His children have done their part to make A. D. proud. It is now ESA's turn. In recognition of this being the 25th Annual Meeting, Anne S. Benninghoff has agreed to start the meeting with a talk that will emphasize more of the famous antidotes of A. D. Moore. Following this will be a full plate of the Friendly Society talks set to inform the audience of recent happenings in electrostatics. Included will be an electrostatics demonstration by Tom Jones and a demonstration by Charles Kalt. And Ed Law has set up a very interesting field trip to end the meeting. Yes, A. D., we have not forgotten you or your wish to make electrostatics visible, simple, practical and enjoyable. You should be very proud of the ESA and its progress in electrostatics discussion, dissemination and demonstration.
I hope to see many of you at this 25th Annual Meeting. I can think of no better way to recognize the contributions of A. D. than to participate in this educational and enjoyable meeting at the University of Georgia.
For the Friendly Society,
Al Seaver
Last year the ESA Executive Council agreed to help subsidize student involvement in the ESA. Effective this year and in subsequent years any student who presents a paper will be given free registration.
Furthermore, any student not presenting a paper who wishes to attend will be given a special student rate determined by the Conference Chair at the time of the conference. Travel cost and lodging will still be the responsibility of the individual attendees.
Late one night, a burglar broke into a house that he thought was empty. He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!"
Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again. "Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.
The burglar stopped dead again. He was frightened. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and in the cage was a parrot. He asked the parrot: "Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?"
"Yes", said the parrot.
The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, then he asked the parrot: "What's your name?"
"Clarence" said the bird.
"That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"
The parrot said, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiler 'Jesus'."
Several months ago I offered to give away some old electrostatic classics These books were so popular, that many of our members wrote to request them. Because of the demand I asked that they be perused and returned. Six of our gracious readers have now done this, and the books were then given away.
Do you have an old book or two? Especially ones long out of print? Would you lend it or give it away? Just make an offer in this Newsletter.
Glenn Schmieg
The Associated Press announced in April that a whole living frog had been levitated in a magnetic field, apparently with no harm to the frog. Few details were available, but the field was said to be a million times that of the Earth (sounds like 50 tesla to me). I am sure that someone is looking for a human volunteer...
Glenn Schmieg
We were saddened and shocked to learn of the death of ESA member Bernard Vonnegut on April 25 in Albany, NY. Dr. Vonnegut was a Senior Research Scientist (Emeritus) at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Albany. He was especially known for his 1945 work in the first cloud seeding experiments at GE Research Laboratory, where he discovered that silver iodide could cause droplets in supercooled clouds to freeze. His brother, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the acclaimed novelist said, "He probably knew more about thunderstorms than anybody else who ever lived". He had previously done research on ice during WW II, working on how to deal with icing on aircraft, the adhesive properties of ice and the properties of supercooled clouds.
In 1953, he developed and explored theories about electrical charges in updrafts and downdrafts in thunderstorms, suggesting that electrification might play a more important part than previously realized in precipitation formation and tornados.
He wrote more than 150 papers and held 28 patents.
When ESA was founded in 1970, Dr. Vonnegut was one of the 16 Charter Members, and was it's first Vice President.
The Nomination Slates for Council Members will be voted upon at the Athens, Georgia Conference. One such slate has been received. If there are no others, this one will automatically be elected.
Emery Miller
Some years ago I visited ESA member Chuck Hendricks at his laboratory at the University of Illinois and he showed me some experiments that he was doing in which he was able to manipulate drops by charging them and then passing them through controlled electric fields so as to control their deposition. Needless to say, I was impressed at that time.
A lot of droplets have moved about since then considering the subsequent development of ink jet printers, particle sorting and other associated applications of this technology.
This article was called to mind when I saw a recent article in the April 5, 1997 SCIENCE NEWS. This article reports work being done by Michael J. Cima of MIT in an area referred to as 3-D Printing. As opposed to normal ink jet printing, this newly developed technology, 3-D Printing, deposits the liquid and its carried solids in a controlled manner so as to create a micro structure in three dimensions. For example, medical pills can be manufactured by repeatedly laying down layer upon layer of a liquid powder mixture. Extremely small amounts of a specific medication can be accurately built into the pill so as to produce a pill having just the correct absorption characteristics in the body. A "printed antihistamine tablet" has been produced by Therics of Princeton, N.J. which contains two binders that dissolve at different rates allowing the drug to be absorbed promptly or after some delay.
The Article also reports that this process is a spin-off of another technology in which three dimensional prototype machine components of plastic, ceramic and metal are produced. Such processes would have marked advantage over producing such prototypes by the normal molding or machining methods. Cima views this process as not just a way of producing single samples or prototypes but as a method of making sizeable quantities of a particular item.
It's been 25 years since my visit with Chuck but, as is usually the case, time and much effort by many individuals has greatly advanced the fundamental technology behind those early efforts.
Emery Miller
In the March/April issue of the ELECTROSTATICS NEWSLETTER, Glenn Schmieg wrote on neodymium magnets, concluding with the remark, "And the practical applications are just beginning. Why not invent something today?" One might conclude that he had recently discovered these magnets and, as usual, is simply entertaining us. No real teacher ever stops teaching and I know neodymium magnets are not a recent discovery of Glenn's. Follow me here.
At our ESA meeting at MIT in 1991, I saw Glenn walking around during a break pinching his nose with two neodymium magnets. I well remember this time because I was struggling to solve a problem, concerning force at a distance, using electrostatic forces. But, upon seeing his antics, I managed to con Glenn out of those two magnets (he actually graciously offered them to me -- despite their $20 cost each) so I could carry out an experiment "immediately" at my lab. Yes, he saw my wild-eyed excitement. And what is the sum and substance of that "nose pinching demonstration" and the pinched skin and blood blister I managed to give myself? I utilized those magnets to invent a process (patents pending) of enhancing the installation of seals in rechargeable toner cartridges. The use of neodymium magnets in this invention (no other type of magnets work) has raised the reliability of a patented heat seal system (previously developed) from 85% to essentially 100%. It has been about two years since I actively entered the commercial phase of these inventions. During our first year we (my sons and I), under our company of Provide Technologies, Inc., sold over 1.5 million dollars of product and sales are continually increasing, with this sealing system becoming the preeminent one in the world. And, during these past two years, some $50,000 worth of neodymium magnets have been purchased!
My summary of these events? Glenn is always teaching, his whimsical antics effective, but watch out, he often leads you in directions you would never have considered. Thanks, Glenn.
Note to ESA members: While I am not anticipating buying any neodymium magnets in the immediate future for myself, if there is enough interest, I may be able to purchase and supply some 0.5" diameter by 0.2" thick magnets for a couple of dollars each. (The magnets I use are custom fabricated, expensive and are not as convenient to experiment with as the recommended one.) If interested, please contact Glenn or me, and if I can order a minimum of 100 magnets, I think I can buy them for the $2 or less. My fax number is 617-623-0436.
Costa Chitouras
In a nice note from Bob Gundlach we were informed that ESA member Dale Mashtare received his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute on the 24th of May. Way to go, Dale!
The typographical error a slippery thing and sly;
too small for human eyes,
You can hunt it 'til you're dizzy
'Til the ink is on the paper
but it somehow will get by.
when it grows to mountain size.
'Til the forms are off the press,
The remainder of the issue
it is strange how still it sleeps;
may be clean as clean can be;
It shrinks down in a corner,
But the typographical error
and never stirs or peeps.
is the only thing "they" see.