Thanks, Spehro! I just went to Amazon.com and ordered myself a copy of the Amateur Scientist CD. For many years I owned a copy of the Amateur Scientist book, and considered it one of my prize possessions. I bought it in 1963 and had it until 1996 when a student borrowed it and never returned it. The CD contains much more material than the book, and I am eagerly looking forward to rummaging through all of the articles. I have read every Scientific American magazine since 1898, and found them to be an invaluable resource. However, the current Scientific American magazine pales in comparison. The current incarnation of the magazine is void of useful information, and once they dropped the Amateur Scientist column it ceased being intereseting to me. The latest issue was pathetic. I think I will let my subscription run out and not renew it. But this treasure trove of Amateur Scientist columns on the CD will be a great welcome addition to my collection of truly USEFUL and entertaining items. Like Spehro, I HIGLY recommend this CD. At $39 it is a fantastic bargain!! Fr. Thomas McGahee ----- Original Message ----- From: Spehro Pefhany To: Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:07 PM Subject: [AD]: or [OT]: Amateur Scientist CD/Scientific American/Wind tunnels > I recommended looking at the old _Amateur Scientist_ columns a few weeks > ago for a student looking for wind tunnel designs. (These are from the > once-great Scientific American magazine). > > I recently got a CD from a place called Surplus Shack that has > basically ALL the old Amateur Scientist columns on it. Some of it is a > bit dated (like you'll want to use PICs rather than vacuum tubes), but > there is a lot of great info on glassblowing, lasers, high vacuum > systesms, particle accelerators you can build in your basement, etc. > etc. It's all gotten a bit much with liability and waning interest > these days, and the better columns were mostly conducted by CL Stong who > actually built most of the projects, few of the columns after 1972 or so > were all that impressive. (there's also a CD of shovelware > demos included but I have not played with that yet). > > All the illustrations are inluded in high and low res, and the text > is HTML, not just scanned. It was originally something like $90 but > this place had it for just $39+ shipping, and I've since found Amazon > now carries it for exactly the same price. If you are interested in > this sort of tinkering and learning, this is a really excellent > resource. There was a book produced, but it isn't as up to date as > this and goes for a premium when you can find it used. I had it years > ago and have been searching used book stores for ages trying to > find another copy. > > Anyway, I'd highly recommend this CD if your interests include any > of these areas. > > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=speffcom-20&creative=4985&cam > p=993&link_code=st1&path=ASIN/097034760X > > The above link will take you to Amazon (and I'll get a small > kickback if you order it from there) or go to Amazon or your > and search for it, or search for Surplus Shack. Any way it's worth > it. > > Best regards, > > > > P.S. Here's the search I did for "Wind Tunnel" > > > > Search Results > > Found 24 relevant articles > > November 1997 Caught in a Wind Tunnel > 54% estimated relevance > > March 1993 Flight-Testing Fruit Flies > 51% estimated relevance > > July 1972 An Amateur Makes a Wind Tunnel to Study the Vortexes That Form > Around a Cylinder > 45% estimated relevance > > October 1966 How to Build a Wind Tunnel That Achieves Supersonic Speeds > with a Vacuum System > 43% estimated relevance > > April 1953 About a Small Wind Tunnel, Cloud Chambers and "Primitive" > Techniques of Measurements > 34% estimated relevance > > May 1955 How to Make an Aerodynamic Smoke Tunnel and More about the Puzzle > of the 12 Balls > 29% estimated relevance > > October 1955 Some Simple Apparatus for Studying the Dynamics Airflow and > Waterflow > 29% estimated relevance > > April 1969 The Lore and Aerodynamics of Making Flying Kites > 28% estimated relevance > > Supplement: Measuring the Wind with Hot Metal > 28% estimated relevance > > October 1971 Experiments with Wind: a Pendulum Anemometer and Miniature > Tornadoes > 27% estimated relevance > > Feburary 1978 Introducing the Musha, the Double Lozenge and a Number of > Other Kits to Build and Fly > 26% estimated relevance > > August 1965 How to Measure Raindrops, Make Snowflakes, and Simulate > Subatomic Particle Scattering > 19% estimated relevance > > April 1957 On Testing Boat Designs Without a Towing Tank, and Skipping > Stones on the Beach > 19% estimated relevance > > May 1971 Schlieren Photography Is Used to Study the Flow of Air Around > Small Objects > 19% estimated relevance > > August 1975 Graphs That Predict When Planets Will Line Up with Another > Planet or the Sun > 15% estimated relevance > > April 1954 On a Well-Made Refracting Telescope and Testing Airplanes in the > Bathtub > 13% estimated relevance > > September 1953 About Sundials and the Cyclotron, the Latter Built By a > Group of Bold High School Boys > 12% estimated relevance > > Feburary 1988 The Feathery Wake of a Moving Boat Is a Complex Interference > Pattern > 12% estimated relevance > > August 1967 A Gauge to Measure Tiny Changes in Gas Pressure; Growth > Substances in Plants > 11% estimated relevance > > Feburary 1964 How to Photograph Air Currents in Color and Build an Accurate > Foucault Pendulum > 10% estimated relevance > > Feburary 1973 Molecular Models and an Interferometer That Can Be > Constructed At Modest Cost > 10% estimated relevance > > August 1974 An Air Flash Lamp Advances Color Schlieren Photography > 10% estimated relevance > > June 1957 About the Activities and the Trials of Amateur Rocket Experimenters > 8% estimated relevance > > March 1980 Stalking the Fossil Trilobite, Crinoid, and Seed Fern in Ohio > 8% estimated relevance > > > Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" > speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com > Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com > /.-.\ > (( * )) > \\ // Please help if you can: > \\\ http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ > //\\\ > /// \\\ > \/ \/ > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList > mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu > > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads