West Lafayette, IN artist, Robert C. Tracy offered his thoughts on The Biographies of John Charles Fremont in an Amazon review earlier this week. In celebration of the very first review, today only, the Kindle edition is available for free from Amazon. Here’s Mr. Tracy’s five-star review: This is a […]
Yearly Archives: 2015
25 posts
My work explores the practical aspects of how bound, stored, or static electromagnetic energy transforms into moving electromagnetic energy. I’ve applied this expertise in the design of ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas, as well as in wireless systems that operate using near-field wireless principles. Q-Track designs indoor location systems that locate tags […]
Refusing to take the status quo for granted was a big element in the Czarina’s invention of the Baby Dipper Bowl. As a stay-at-home mom of twin babies, she faced the daunting task of feeding them. Frustrated with the bowls she had already purchased, she researched and bought other bowls, […]
Today’s post is on Minecraft, an engaging digital building block game, and Mine View, a wonderful application for viewing and analyzing Minecraft worlds. Originally a PC game, the mobile version for tablets and smart phones continues to converge to the performance of the desktop version with each new release. Minecraft […]
I’m experimenting with a new blogroll feature in the left sidebar. You’ll see some of my favorite blogs and their most recent posts divided into three categories: Science and Technology, News and Current Events, and Science Fiction. These are updated every time you load a page, so come back often […]
My new book, The Biographies of John Charles Fremont, is now available in a Kindle edition from Amazon for $2.99 or free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Rarely has a character appeared on the American scene of greater color and controversy than John Charles Fremont. Fremont’s name is sometimes spelled in […]
One great challenge in parenting is finding worthwhile educational videos. My kids prefer the zany antics of Phineas and Ferb to most anything with a wiff of being educational. That’s why I’m delighted to have found a great series that combines education with engaging entertainment for the whole family. How […]
Robert Byrne, author of a number of outstanding novels featuring engineers as protagonists, is recovering from a stroke according to the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. The 85-year-old author, humorist, and columnist was expected to be returning to Dubuque for rehabilitation this week. Better known for his works on Pool and Billiards, Byrne […]
Napoleon’s Buttons is not a history of chemistry but rather the story of how chemistry influenced history. Seventeen chapters detail how chemicals have played a crucial role in human development from ancient times to the present. A sampling of topics include: Spices and their role in trade, Ascorbic acid, scurvy […]
Today I will present a Lunch-N-Learn seminar to the Central Indiana Section of the IEEE this Monday, September 21, at 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. His talk is hosted by Frost Brown Todd, LLC in downtown Indianapolis. Register here. My talk, Energy Flow in Reactive Fields, proposes a novel definition […]
Noted antenna engineer, Alan Boswell of Great Baddow, Essex, UK, died August 5, 2015 at Broomfield Hospital. His funeral was on August 20 at Chelmsford Crematorium. Should you wish to make a charitable donation in his memory, two charities that were close to Alan’s heart are the British Lung Foundation […]
The folks at Loughborough University in the UK have developed and released a fascinating educational application to illustrate the behavior of waves. The Loughborough Wave App offers an intuitive interface to allow the user to explore a variety of simple wave phenomena. This is not an analytic tool. Rather it’s […]
One of the great pleasures of having written a book is hearing feedback from readers. I’m particularly interested in readers who have applied ultrawideband antenna ideas and concepts to solve problems with which I was completely unfamiliar. Martin Judd of High Frequency Diagnostics in Glasgow, Scotland has graciously agreed to […]
I will be presenting a Lunch-N-Learn seminar to the Joint Communications, Antennas & Propagation, and Microwave Theory and Techniques (JCAM) Chapter of the Huntsville Section of the IEEE this Wednesday, August 19, at 11:15 am to 12:45 pm. Lunch (Chicken Tenders) will be served, courtesy of our hosts at Technology […]
The Providence Journal has a fascinating piece on the little known story of domestic radio surveillance during WWII. The Intelligence Division of the FCC selected several sites in the U.S. to set up monitoring stations to listen for enemy spies. A wartime short movie featured the radio surveillance effort. The […]
Noted antenna expert, Alan Boswell, was kind enough to share his thoughts on the second (revised) edition of The Art and Science of UWB Antennas. His review follows… The first thing to say to someone familiar with antennas who picks up this book is that its subject matter is not […]
I’ve started a page to host corrections to the second edition of The Art and Science of UWB Antennas. There are only two so far, but I’m confident a careful reader will have no trouble adding to the list. The first discoverer of an error will receive the fame of […]
SafeSpot™ systems make busy workplaces safer by warning pedestrians and forklift drivers of potential collisions. The system triggers a warning around blind corners if a forklift-forklift or forklift-pedestrian collision is imminent. Q-Track’s innovative system employs near-field electromagnetic ranging to detect proximity of forklifts and passive IR to detect pedestrians. Workers […]
Professor Steve Holland of the Milwaukee School of Engineering is an expert on UWB antennas and broadband matching. He reviewed Chapter 4 of my book as I was writing it, and he provided me with helpful feedback and insights on matching UWB antennas. His conference paper “Wideband Impedance Matching Techniques” […]
Can a preface itself have a preface? At the risk of being hopelessly self-referential, I suppose that’s how one might characterize this post. The preface to the second edition of The Art and Science of UWB Antennas follows. By way of introduction, the preface was actually the last part of […]
Here’s a video version of my May 23 talk at ATLOSCon in Atlanta Georgia on Fields Versus Action at a Distance. I subtitled my talk “How Electromagnetics Works,” because in retrospect, that would have made a better title. My talk discusses the conflict between action at a distance and field-based […]
Every signed copy of The Art and Science of UWB Antennas will come with a complimentary bookplate. Designed by Patricia Forrest and inspired by a classic design from 1950s science fiction illustrator Ed Emshwiller, the bookplate features equations and graphics from the text. Design elements include: Impulses combining destructive on […]
I’m presenting a talk on “Fields Versus Action-At-A-Distance” at ATLOSCon 2015 in Atlanta this morning. This talk focuses on the conflict between the action-at-a-distance and the field approach to physical understanding from the days of Newton and Descartes to the present. Faraday devised the field concept in reaction to then prevalent […]
Some distinguished early readers offer enthusiastic reviews for the revised second edition of The Art and Science of Ultrawideband Antennas. “Schantz introduces time domain methods in antenna engineering and microwave techniques, which relate to ultrawideband signals in this expanded second edition. The book is delightfully illuminating, and includes well-researched historical […]