From: bill.sloman@ieee.org   
      
   On 1/01/2026 4:35 am, Liz Tuddenham wrote:   
   > 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?   
      
   It's on my booKshelf and I posted both it's 10 and 13 digit ISBN numbers.   
      
   > 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.   
      
   The Russel Burns book wasn't that bad - it was just weak on the   
   technical content.   
      
   I've just re-read the last chapter, on the H2S radar whose flight trial   
   killed Blumlein, and the technical analysis doesn't go deeper than   
   distinguishing between klystons and magnetrons. It's remarkably superficial.   
      
   --   
   Bill Sloman, Sydney   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)