Author Archives: mathscinotes

John Wayne Math

Posted on 25-September-2012 by mathscinotes

My oldest son and I have been watching some old cowboy movies -- John Wayne has figured prominently in these movies. While watching "Stagecoach", the question came up as to how many movies John Wayne has made. I grabbed the … Continue reading →

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Another Young Couple Starting Their Life Together ...

Posted on 13-September-2012 by mathscinotes

I am going to be sentimental for a while. Thirty-three years ago I married the love of my life. We have two sons. One son is getting married this week to a wonderful girl he met while going to university in Montana. I am now sure that I will never get him back. I guess that is the way things are supposed to work. I think back to all the time spent helping him with homework, teaching him to ride a bicycle, coaching his soccer practice, and taking him to hockey practice. All the things that dads do. It has all been about bringing him to this point. He is now on his own -- an accountant at a hospital who is marrying a nurse. Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

A Good Analog Computation Example

Posted on 31-August-2012 by mathscinotes

Introduction I am always looking for real-world examples of analog computation and this blog post will discuss one of the best examples of analog computation that I found. I found this little gem in EDN magazines' Design Ideas section, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics | Comments Off on A Good Analog Computation Example

Book Review:"Iron Men and Tin Fish"

Posted on 29-August-2012 by mathscinotes

I just finished reading the book "Iron Men and Tin Fish" by Anthony Newpower (ISBN 978-1-59114-623-0). It is a short book that does a really nice job of covering the use of torpedoes during World War 2. The author looks … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science and Technology, Underwater | Comments Off on Book Review:"Iron Men and Tin Fish"

Heating a Room with People

Posted on 28-August-2012 by mathscinotes

I am currently sitting in a really boring meeting that is being held in a very small room. The room is packed full of people and it is hot in here. Of course, there is a part of me that … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction | 3 Comments

Laser Slope Efficiency and Curve Fitting

Posted on 23-August-2012 by mathscinotes

Introduction I have spent much of my summer dealing with issues related to the high temperature characteristics of lasers. These issues have stirred within me an interest in laser slope efficiency . Slope efficiency, also known as SE, is simply … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Fiber Optics | Tagged | 4 Comments

Laser Tracking Error and Curve Fitting

Posted on 23-August-2012 by mathscinotes

Introduction I had a request for an example of how the output power of a laser varies with temperature. We call this parameter tracking error. Tracking error varies from part to part and the manufacturers simply put a bound on … Continue reading →

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Non-UN Participants in the Olympics

Posted on 31-July-2012 by mathscinotes

I was listening to the radio today and I heard a reporter say that 205 countries were participating in the Olympics. I checked and that number is correct. That seemed like a lot of countries, so I went to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 4 Comments

Volcano Math

Posted on 24-July-2012 by mathscinotes

I was listening to Planetary Radio the other night and they had an interesting interview with Rosaly Lopes, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has discovered more volcanoes than anyone else. Her discoveries were of volcanoes on other … Continue reading →

Posted in General Science, software | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Lighting My House Number and Designing with Phototransistors

Posted on 11-July-2012 by mathscinotes

Introduction I have had several people say that my house number is difficult to read at night. The number consists of four digits mounted on a structural column that holds up a section of my roof. In response to these … Continue reading →

Posted in Construction, Electronics | Tagged | 5 Comments