From: liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid   
      
   Bill Sloman  wrote:   
      
   > On 1/01/2026 12:39 am, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   > > Bill Sloman  wrote:   
   > >   
   > >> On 31/12/2025 8:31 pm, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   > >>> Bill Sloman  wrote:   
   > >>> [...]   
   > >>>   
   > >>>> Driven shields have been around forever.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> Since the mid 1930s, invented by Blumlein.   
   > >>   
   > >> I worked at EMI Central Research for a couple of years (1976-1979), but   
   > >> I'd heard of the Blumlein bridge even before that.   
   > >>   
   > >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Blumlein   
   > >>   
   > >> He died at age 38, and had his name on 128 patents. The IET has   
   > >> published a biography, but it doesn't do him justice.   
   > >>   
   > >> "The Life and Times of A.D. Blumlein" by Russel Burns ISBN 0 85296 773 X   
   > >> and 978-0-85296-773-7   
   > >   
   > > That is an excellent book - but be aware there is another book with a   
   > > very similar title which is a complete load of rubbish.   
   > >   
   > > I was priviledged to have met Alan Blumlein's son, Simon, on several   
   > > occasions and chatted to him about his father.  Simon died about a year   
   > > ago; he was a lovely character with a similar sense of humour to his   
   > > dad.   
   >   
   > I envy you the personal acquaintance.   
      
   I was very lucky.  Simon Blumlein was a patron of the City of London   
   Phonograph and Gramophone Society and he attended their AGMs (and spoke   
   at some of them).  I happened to see him killing time before the evening   
   meal and we fell into conversation.  After that, we often had a quick   
   chat when time permitted.   
      
   I managed to record two of his talks, one on his researches into his   
   father's life and the other on his own life (he was deeply involved in   
   optical design, loved a wide range of music and was also a ballet dancer   
   in his spare time!).   
      
      
   > I wasn't all that impressed by the   
   > book. I don't think the author knew much about the electronics that   
   > Blumlein worked on (few people do - he worked in a lot of different   
   > areas) and it struck me as rather superficial in consequence.   
      
   I thought the IET book wasn't too bad, are you sure that was the book   
   you read?   
      
   The other Book (whose name I have forgotten) was much much worse.  The   
   author knew less than nothing about electronics or anything remotely   
   scientific i.e. he thought he understood but obviously didn't have a   
   clue.  For the benefit of less expert readers than himself, he provided   
   explanations of the technical details in pseudo-scientific gobbledeygook   
   using technical terms he had read in the source material but clearly   
   failed to understand.   
      
   It is one of the few books I have read where the author has added   
   negative value to his source material.   
      
      
   --   
   ~ Liz Tuddenham ~   
   (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)   
   www.poppyrecords.co.uk   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)