Mark, Doc Edgerton was an early electrical engineer, in Dynamo Engineering I believe. He developed the flash to help freeze the spinning machinery for a good look. In the hall outside his lab there were some of his early photos, including Ariel Recon photos of Boston taken in the late '30's. He loaded some flash tubes and capacitors in an airplane and took night shots of 4 or 9 square miles of Boston at a time.
He was a remarkable individual with a great deal of curiosity who treated the students well. He and his lab were remarkably open to undergraduates. In the '60's, he brought friends like Jaques Costeau around to show off his early underwater movies. Regards, Bob S. [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Those were photos from Doc Edgerton's lab at MIT. >> They used some good size flash tubes, and >> I believe a microphone was used to trigger the flash. > >> Polaroid film and open the shutter, fire the gun, >> which triggers the flash, and you see where the bullet is. >> Then, adjust the microphone closer or farther away from the gun, >> to get the bullet where you want it in the frame. > >I'm speaking from a position of almost total ignorance here, but >surely a bullet is travelling 2 or 3 times faster than sound? Over the >short distances involved is it really possible to do this? I don't know anything about the velocity of bullets, but even if they do travel at Mach 3 all you'd have to do is position the target 3 feet from the gun and the microphone 1 foot away and you'd be pretty much synchronized. >I would have thought a light or electric trigger would be better. >e.g. fit the trigger or the hammer of the gun with an electrical gizmo >to fire the flash. A microphone was deemed the easiest way to go: No attachments or modifications to the gun; most equipment readily available off-the shelf. Edgerton claims he got his first shot (the bullet going through the apple, IIRC) on his first try. Clearly, this was a man not unaccustomed to precise laboratory work! -- Mark Roberts
