How is it going?
http://www.maricom.pl/mmoe.php?oluxidname=83
Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:49:39
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I wish you would go away. (c) BERTRAM waehlerischesten
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays
Prime Theory -- not to be Mocked, or Knocked! My tutor in grad school math at
Cambridge was one Shaun Wylie, dead now; a famoso number expert. He was a
supervisor at Bletchley where a chappie called Turing worked for him. They
broke ENIGMA, that may have won the war -- certainly
I have read the postings on animal size and characteristics. I woulda thought
that canine counter-example demolished the heart beat hypothesis. Didn't
Sherlock Holmes comment on the strange behavior of the dog?
Some personal experiences are of interest. In 1976 Paul MacCready and I
This is indeed an interesting subject. Since David with his sling, humankind
has been fascinated with Action at a Distance. Makes perfect sense to me. I
see no moral distinction between removing an evil person with ground boots,
artillery, manned or unmanned air strikes. But huge
I taught at the Art and Design Center in Pasadena for twenty years - a range of
subjects from automotive design to Renaissance technology. My students, very
talented young women and men, gave you the Miata and the new VW Bug. We
staff were troubled by the students' trouble with numbers. I
My superficial knowledge of the subject comes from an A in a grad class at
Caltech on Relativity, long before GPS. No problem in measuring interval
between events at the same place, with a relativistic correction. The issue
here is synchronization of clocks at different points in space (CERN
Can someone tell me, in my doomed ignorance, how they timed that too-speedy
particle arriving at CERN? I know it's elementary for those to whom it is.
Mebbe Bruce Sherwood can give a briefing? I welcome.
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing
Elementary, my dear Dr. Holmes! I totally concur with his views that most Big
decisions in life are in the province of philosophy and humanity, not physics.
For an Oxford mathematician he shows surprisingly good sense! We have many
ethical decisions -- who: to marry, to make war on,
Take a circular cylindrical container with a small, short bell-mouthed orifice
in the base center. Now fill it and remove the stopper. As John Falstaff
would have it, “Broach that bloody keg!” What happens?
The water comes out the bottom – if I can be forgiven some complex
Yeah, name-dropping, I know, but the truth. I actually discussed that fluid
mechanics puzzle with Dick Feynman, in the nude, in a hot tub! How could one
be more open? It was about a “reversal paradox”, where you pump fluid down a
swirl pipe one way and a rotor turns, but when you
Friend pulsed me off-line. Wot the hell you know about malaria? Somewhat
over the Top, mon frere! I wuz stung! I have promised that ALL my postings
will be of real events that I have experienced or witnessed, so in defense, I
note that I indeed contracted malaria as a child in Africa. It
Klowns like me are often misinterpreted, as noted by Yorick. I am ardently in
favor of experiment, carefully observed. It is the basis of all science. But,
but, the interpretation of observed phenomena must also be dealt with
carefully. Voodoo has a pernicious way of creeping in.
I was amazed to learn that gedanken experiments involve so much depth. I had
thought thought experiments were just simple tests that it would be VERY nice
to do, but for various reasons could not be executed. Like having all
gedanken foolosofers leap from high buildings (under humane and
The “Bathtub Vortex” has been much studied, by good hydrodynamicists and
others, like me. It is a fine example of the Navier-Stokes Equations in their
full glory, and can be solved (more or less) by techniques of Computational
Fluid Dymanics (CFD). Turbulence, that often
The correspondence re e-books is indeed interesting. Starting as a grad
student at Cambridge Univ., I made a vow to keep ALL books I had ever acquired
(honestly or not). They were nice to have. And useful for many things. I
enjoyed using the massive, tall Oxford English Dictionary as a
No reason for the $ scam types to evolve. They seem to have lotsa suckers in
Friam readership. I was amazed that correspondents even responded seriously.
Now, about that bridge...
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454
Ruth and Bruce's books are truly excellent. I think Feynman would have
approved. I wish I'd been taught their way. It would be nice to have them
give a short series of well-chosen informal seminars on their ideas. For
ignorant adults, if there are any in Friam. I am, and would learn a
The videos are wonderful, and I thank Nick, and agree with his opinion. As for
the Theory of Tornadoes, it seems that to date it's literally a case of God
only knows! But mebbe Friam, too. I have 1/2 century background teaching
grad fluid mechanics at Caltech, Stanford, and USC and have
I missed the initial posting re Vortices! Can someone kindly repeat the
question. I spent 50 years dealing professionally with vorticity and its
curious consequences.
Remember the Jabberwock, where his Vorpal sword went snicker-snack!?
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is
Isn't it true that all the above use rare earth magnets -- ALL electrical
powerplants, cars, toothbrushes, cell phones? It is by no means exclusively a
wind turbine problem!
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454
The two nuclear plants in CA, San Onofre and Diablo Canyon, produce about 4.5
GW together. Both are coastline installations vulnerable to seismic and
tsunami activity. CA total electrical power plant capacity is about 33 GW .
In 2010 t otal used capacity for 100% full operation was
It is fun to read Friamers’ hypotheses on formation flight in birds. They are
entirely unprejudiced by any knowledge of the topic . Although knowledge of a
subject is counter-friamistic and takes hard work, I modestly suggest that it
is helpful to understand some of the
Yes, as always, Steve is correct. In my 1971 paper I included some stability
calculations indicating that for a flyer moving ahead of the Vee line things
became tougher, and vice versa.
The funny thing, as noted in that paper, was that the lead bird, at the apex of
the Vee, had the easiest
The Joys of Groupies
I have read the interesting comments on the advantages of fish schooling. It
all sounds reasonable, and is well worth hypothesizing. I like dealing with
prosaic facts and observations, and quote a few established examples of avian
and aviator group behavior
Yes, an excellent idea! I'd like to hear the times and days proposed. It
sounds like a very worthwhile project. Let's hear more, ASAP!
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Wot i s this Thing called Credibility? How measured? And where listed?
Ya want credibility, go join the American Physical Society. Pay yer dues
($186 p.a., college degree not required) and you will be a member, in good
standing, of a credible organization; they will publish your stuff,
Shakespeare versus Friam! Oh, My! Seems like a hugely mismatched
intellectual exercise! Well, Will wrote words for that, too! Perhaps: “A
concatenation of cats”. Or: “What fools these mortals be!” It’s poetry,
fellas! Didn’t anyone tell you? Before penning ab initio, ab
Define yourself. You'll be right!
Me, I prefer Hamlet's definition:
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!
In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In
apprehension how like a God!
Peter Lissaman, Da
It's all bluff and double bluff, etc. A wilderness of mirrors, as Jesus
Angleton had it. A boy-actor, playing a girl, dressed as a boy, playing a
girl, as the B ard wrote it. The reason to focus on annoying decrepid white
grannies with enhanced inspection is to divert from the real target
I have followed the correspondence on enhanced scanning with usual mixture of
shock and incredulity. Do people object because it’s offensive or because
it’s ineffective? It would be unpleasant but, for me, unpleasanter to be
blown up by a device that had avoided the enhanced scanner.
A’propos Ten Best Texts as fiction. I’m sure no one at Friam holds to the
techno-barbarian view that nothing valuable can be gained from fiction. In my
opinion the important human values can be illuminated only by fiction. After
all, the King James Bible (1611) is about the best
a well known quote -- it's the on fourth page of Joyce's masterpiece, as I trow
all Friamers must know. I loved the bestbeloved bestbook bash, and was
amazed that Ulysses headed the list. It is indeed great literature, or so they
say, but how does an ordinary yobbo read it? I was educated
Discussions of the mea ning of math are always interesting --- and revea
ling.
When I was a student of math at Cambridge B ertra nd R ussell was still around,
and much in evidence. H e is supposed to have said, M athematics is a subject
where you don't know what you are talking about, and
After some egregi ous faux pas with a titled lady, Bertie asks Jeeves, Did you
think the Duchess was disgruntled? Jeeves replies, That is not for me to
say, Sir, but it was clear that she was very f ar from being gruntled.
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing
Americans: Neither Ugly nor Dumb
I have enjoyed the plethora of Wisdom apropos contemporary mores and innovation
from Friam correspondents: finally a reply is irresistible. But I can
respond only with banal facts I have personally experienced and know to be
true.
On dumth: I have
On the Wi-Fi lunatic fringe ; I note that MRI is extensively used for brain
scan research. Is there any possibility that this could affect people ? I
remember in the ear ly days of X-ray it was dangerously over- used for medical
diagnosis.
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is
Who the Hell is Dr. Thurston? And how does he support his astonishing
statement that mathematical proofs are easier than programming? I can
respond only with my own experience. I was a mathematics scholar at the
University of Cambridge (like Newton, but a little later). My supervisor and
Yuss, and the really depressing thing about Physics is that people can prove
you're wrong
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA
tel:(505)983-7728
- Original
Yuss, and the really depressing thing about Physics is that people can prove
you're wrong
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA
tel:(505)983-7728
- Original
Nick is absolutely correct! An increase in pressure causes an increase in
density of most fluids, as noted by Sir
Robert Boyle in 1662. The thing is: air be so light that changes in speed
involve only tiny pressure and density increases, of a few per cent, less than
occurs during a storm
Nick notes that there's something funny if an array reduces effective wind for
a peleton of sweaty b icy clistes, but increases it for a bunch of spinning
turbines. And he's dead right! A nd these are legitimate, rational questions
that an intelligen t layman should ask. The answer is that
Hot Air, and Compressibility
A’course air is compressible, and so is water. Any kid who fools around with
bicycle pump or a shock absorber, and believes what he sees, rather than what
he is told, can feel the compressibility. But, but, but, at modest speeds
free air will NOT
I didn't know that wind tur bines experienced compressible flow. This makes
all my papers and books on the subject wrong, although the operating turbines
designed by my codes don't seem to know this! I would like to correct them.
Can anyone provide reports on compressible flow in wind
F’ing Windmills
It is good to see FRIAMers enthusiastically holding forth on another area of
their whimsy – the effectiveness of wind turbine arrays. Wind Energy can
provide a significant contribution to our energy supply. Understanding it
helps. Commenters might be interested in
F’ing Windmills
It is good to see FRIAMers enthusiastically holding forth on another area of
their whimsy – the effectiveness of wind turbine arrays. Wind Energy can
provide a significant contribution to our energy supply. Understanding it
helps. Commenters might be interested in
I assume FRIAM folks want to increase their knowledge - or mebbe not.
Credentials: I have supervised wind tunnel tests of vehicles in arrays at USC
and made extensive theoretical calcs with grad students on this subject , have
tested my own designs (the Sunraycer and GM Impact) in the
Array models are muc h more sophisticated than he could even understand. The
simplest models use Fourier tranforms for the boundary layer effects on the
lumpy terrai n, and, for the wake development, turbulence levels computed
from interaction of atmospheric stability, ground roughness,
In the 80s we did a lotta work on that, designed, built and tested them.
Didn't talk, did! The shrinkwrap is actually a shape like a vertical
streamlined fin, narrow and tall, on a light stringer airframe covered with
Monokote, that encloses the frame and rider. Huge benefits obtain from
Isn't it rather like sex? If you need people to tell you what t o do with it
, it's not for you!
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA
tel:(505)983-7728
I find it a puzzlement, and a wee bit like hubris, that folks communicate on
the internet, instead of under a fig tree, confirming their personal views that
there is nothing new! I speak from ignorance, but is satellite commo, solid
state electronics, quantum mechanics and electro-optics old
The above question can be answered at some level for the Bugs Bunnys of the
world! And the answer is: Yes, indeed, plenty. Here is a little story anent
our marvellous aptitude for development with time. The original discus, as
used in the first Greek Olympics, was quite clever, and
Folks are complaining about Wiki math. For what it's worth, and only
on subjects that I have some applied knowledge, Wiki's views on math are very
shallow and sometimes actually wrong, and provably so. For the former, I
refer to Bessel Functions (that Jeffries and Jeffries called a long sad
If you believe that article you will believe anything! I was shocked that
the author refers to Lagrangian reference systems without understanding or ever
describing what he means (it's the most simple concept), blathers on about
large scale high Reynolds Number Turbulence in Monterey Bay
Wanted: a hands-on computer consultant for MATLAB, for pay! My place in SF or
yours. ASAP for invited scientific paper. Please reply by e-mail.
Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures
Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for.
1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New
Why not stick to the poetic usage - with ardours manifold? Otherwise what
difference does it make unless you wish to use it in an unambiguous sense for
some operation, in which case you can define it in a useful fashion.
Incidentally, in all my post grad studies of mathematics at Caltech and
I know not what or how philosophy lead to DNA, or the transistor, or
Shannon's Theorem, or Darwin's thoughts. I would be interested in being
informed about how classical philosophy is on the frontier of new concepts
in Natural Philosophy. I reckon My Lord Hamlet had it right when he said,
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