Wikipedians are gradually getting with the program
Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:10 pm
I remember when the Wiki entry for TTB was sparse and skeptical. Out of curiosity, I checked it again this morning and see that It has since been updated, using much of Draft 1 for a source, as well as the new book. Perhaps you are one of the page editors?
But, all in all, the entry feels incomplete. From the first paragraph:
And then there is this, on the "back" (Talk) page where editors discuss their updates:
"this" links to the new book.
Getting hungup on proving or disproving "electrogravitics" might lead one to assume that it was the end point of Townsend's research. I think it was more likely, the starting point. Though it and many other G words were introduced and kicked around in the gravity research of 55/56, Townsend had coined the term in his twenties, before joining the Navy.
It might be insightful to know when Townsend, himself, last used the term to explain his work Surely, he would have expanded his own understanding of the effect once he gained access to the work of the NRL.
Remember that our ability to "do" science was so primitive at the time he joined the lab, that its only research divisions were Radio and Sound. (https://www.nrl.navy.mil/About-Us/History/). As their knowledge base expanded, so did his. (And, presumably, vice versa)
It is also important to bear in mind that Townsend's association with the lab did not end once he joined the Naval Reserve.
I do not know how the NRL/ONR/USNR organizations function now, but during Townsend's service time, Reserve engineering officers served the as the lab's eyes and ears during the various pre-production stages of proof of concept, breadboarding, and final implementation testing prior to production. This lead Townsend to dabble in all sorts of "bleeding edge" science. Whether it was science he played a role in originating, we do not know.
But now that the existence of gravity waves has been verified, perhaps electrogravitics might come back into fashion again:
SIDENOTE: After WWII USNR EOs were also often double hatted into intelligence roles, as it was understood that the eternal Great Battle will always be for the lead in "conquering" knowledge.
But, all in all, the entry feels incomplete. From the first paragraph:
This is the only mention of EHD in the entire article, yet, by the time the family was living in Ashlawn, Brown was well aware that he was working with electrohydrodynamics, though he was calling it electromagnetohydrodynamics. Terminology evolve as knowledge evolves.Instead of being an antigravity force, what Brown observed has generally been attributed to electrohydrodynamics, the movement of charged particles that transfers their momentum to surrounding neutral particles in air, also called "ionic drift" or "ionic wind".
And then there is this, on the "back" (Talk) page where editors discuss their updates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Thom ... send_Brown
"Electrogravitics is less well understood" - According to this it was well understood, just not understood by Brown and company.
"this" links to the new book.
Getting hungup on proving or disproving "electrogravitics" might lead one to assume that it was the end point of Townsend's research. I think it was more likely, the starting point. Though it and many other G words were introduced and kicked around in the gravity research of 55/56, Townsend had coined the term in his twenties, before joining the Navy.
It might be insightful to know when Townsend, himself, last used the term to explain his work Surely, he would have expanded his own understanding of the effect once he gained access to the work of the NRL.
Remember that our ability to "do" science was so primitive at the time he joined the lab, that its only research divisions were Radio and Sound. (https://www.nrl.navy.mil/About-Us/History/). As their knowledge base expanded, so did his. (And, presumably, vice versa)
It is also important to bear in mind that Townsend's association with the lab did not end once he joined the Naval Reserve.
I do not know how the NRL/ONR/USNR organizations function now, but during Townsend's service time, Reserve engineering officers served the as the lab's eyes and ears during the various pre-production stages of proof of concept, breadboarding, and final implementation testing prior to production. This lead Townsend to dabble in all sorts of "bleeding edge" science. Whether it was science he played a role in originating, we do not know.
But now that the existence of gravity waves has been verified, perhaps electrogravitics might come back into fashion again:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGOObservations are made in "runs". As of January 2022, LIGO has made three runs (with one of the runs divided into two "subruns"), and made 90 detections of gravitational waves.[14][15]
SIDENOTE: After WWII USNR EOs were also often double hatted into intelligence roles, as it was understood that the eternal Great Battle will always be for the lead in "conquering" knowledge.