This page covers some of my interest areas outside work, in no
particular order.
The History of Science
The
history of science combines my interest
in history with my interest in science. If you would like to read a
chapter-length history of electromagnetics, researched and written by me, click
on the picture of the light spectrum.
It is chapter 1 of a book I am writing called Modern Electromagnetics. The
figures were not included to save time. (Warning: It will require about a
minute to load at 56K bps.)
Digital Photography
While I have been interested in photography for
many years, I put off getting a digital camera until "the prices come
down." I received a digital camera (Kodak DC280) as a present for
Christmas 1999, and now I'm hooked! I especially appreciate the ability to
"fine tune" the pictures with digital photo editors. The other
part I like is saving money; the original cost of the camera is more than a
conventional 35mm SLR, but there is no processing cost. When I want to
make a hard copy, I get excellent results printing on Kodak Inkjet Photo Paper
with my HP DeskJet 882C. Printing on plain "Bright White" inkjet
paper works pretty well also. Click on the thumbnail of the Dome of the
Rock in Jerusalem to see some of my
favorite pictures from a trip to Israel that I took with my family in April
2000.
I
also have a collection of "oldies but goodies" taken on 35mm
transparencies that I recently sent to Gamma Laboratories in Chicago for digital
conversion. While I was slightly disappointed that the years had been hard
on the images, I was able to correct many of the problems using digital image
enhancement. Click on the thumbnail of the statue to see twenty of my
favorite scenes. The subjects range from the Berlin Wall to Hawaii.
Computer
Games
Yes, I admit I enjoy playing them! My first PC game was a
text-graphics "Star Trek" game on a home-built 8-bit
microcomputer. The Enterprise was an E and the Klingons were K's. I
wrote a few computer games in my earlier career, even selling some! Today,
computer games are so elaborate that it takes a multi-million dollar development
budget to be competitive. If you are interested in computer games, click
the sword and shield icon.
Soccer Dad
Yes,
I
am a soccer dad! I have 3 sons, all
of whom are playing or have played soccer in our town league. We play both
interclub (against other teams from our town) and travel (against other
towns). I have a class "F" license from the United States Soccer
Federation, which means that I am qualified by the USSF to coach soccer at the
youth recreational level. Living in the northeast, we play soccer indoors
from December through April. It's almost a different game, but still a lot
of fun for the kids.
Fantasy and Science Fiction
Fantasy and science
fiction stories have fascinated me since I learned to read. I grew up 
with
the stories and novels of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke, the
"ABC" of SF (please don't call it "Sci-Fi"). I
discovered Robert A. Heinlein while I was in college, along with Niven &
Pournelle, Fritz Lieber, and others too numerous to mention. J.R.R.
Tolkien's "hobbit" stories and Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in
Amber series enchanted me in graduate school when I needed a break from
physics.
While many of my generation read the Martian tales of Edgar Rice
Burroughs (author of Tarzan) in middle school or high school, I waited
until I was traveling extensively with my first job to read the series.
The alien races, technologies, and situations described by Burroughs should be
considered fantasy rather than science fiction. Some critics might
complain that the plots are melodramatic and the characters
two-dimensional. Even so, I have felt since reading Burroughs' stories
that the economy of his writing style and the boundless sweep of his imagination
are characteristics to be emulated by any aspiring SF writer. Perhaps I
will try my hand at it some day soon.
Opera
For
the last few years, I have enjoyed being a "supernumerary" in the Chautauqua
Opera Company. This involves getting into costume and acting a
small part, usually something like a soldier or servant. I do not
sing! I did get one small line in one production: "Get out of the
way!" Click on the picture of me as an English soldier in Macbeth
for more information.
