Some basic electronics and unlearning the wrong

[SY]

Re: the airfoil, when I first started flying, my instructor gave me a copy of Langewiesche's "Stick and Rudder," a classic book which demolished the notion of the Bernoulli approach taught in school. When it came time to teach my son about how airplanes work, I took him for a ride in my car and had him stick his hand out the window and play with the angle of attack as I drove faster or slower.

[CopperTop]

Originally Posted by wbeaty

And what's with the namecalling? I'm only here hours, and already someone is delivering personal insults. Not a good sign at all.

Quite right. I was brought up in a household that somehow learned that discussion and argument was a good thing, to be enjoyed. I believe that is how it works in academia too.

Sites like DIYAudio are obviously open to people of all sorts, and are often reduced to lowest common denominator discussions where someone makes an assertion and then takes attempts to merely explore what they've said as a personal challenge to their expertise, responding with personal insults and effectively closing the discussion down. I've noticed a tendency, often seen in the male-dominated world of business, to regard self deprecation or the asking of questions instead of dogmatic assertion, as signs of weakness to be pounced upon, rather than opportunities for fruitful discussion. The implication is often that a contribution isn't valid unless the poster has got some (purely self-certified) expertise in the most mundane aspects of something, rather than just a desire to discuss ideas for the sake of it.

The worst aspect of all this is that I then feel pressure to make my own contributions more assertive and abrasive just to be able to 'join in'. It's a shame, because there are some really interesting discussions to be had.

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by CopperTop

I've noticed a tendency, often seen in the male-dominated world of business, to regard self deprecation or the asking of questions instead of dogmatic assertion, as signs of weakness to be pounced upon, rather than opportunities for fruitful discussion. The implication is often that a contribution isn't valid unless the poster has got some (purely self-certified) expertise in the most mundane aspects of something, rather than just a desire to discuss ideas for the sake of it.

Ha, how true. I've noticed that in the culture of this country, if I qualify a statement at all, the person on the other end automatically assumes I am wrong if it disagrees with their belief. Confidence is more appreciated than correctness, and while discussion is always cited as useful, there is never any real room for debate or discussion. A wrong answer delivered immediately is always preferred to a correct one arrived at by thoughtful discussion. There is always time to do it two or three times, but never time to do it right the first time.

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by wbeaty

Pick the worst mistake and email the author. (Or ...post it right here To avoid confusion, copy some actual text and *not* what you think it says.)

I'm constantly improving those articles. A few physicists have been over them to help fix up unclear sections. But outsiders often can see things that even the experts have missed.

Originally Posted by wbeaty

Today when unwary teachers try to understand "electricity", they encounter this morass of contradictions. Often they throw up their hands in frustration and say: "Electricity is just a kind of event."

This is wrong too!

<Grin>

Pretending that electricity is an event doesn't solve the problem, instead it makes it worse. Teachers are trying to add yet another definition of "Electricity" to the growing list!

Do I smell a straw man? Your prose is rife with them. I believe this approach probably results in the nitpicking accusations...

Don't get me wrong, you have some interesting things to say. Keep it up! Perhaps toning it down a bit will make the pill easier to swallow?

Best Regards.

[Pano]

Originally Posted by SY

Re: the airfoil, when I first started flying, my instructor gave me a copy of Langewiesche's "Stick and Rudder," a classic book which demolished the notion of the Bernoulli

Ditto!


I'd sure like to see a section on light and the inverse square law. Too many folks don't understand it and think it applies to every source. It does not. Just being going thru all that on another forum.

(can apply to sound, too)

[Conrad Hoffman]

I linked to the page on infrared radiation in another forum (topic was coloring the edges of CD with green marker, but things drifted a bit OT) because so many people think infrared radiation has some special heat-carrying or heating ability vs other parts of the spectrum.

The straw man complaint may or may not be valid, but given the generally wretched state of science teaching in this country (OK, I can't prove that, but I can tell you job applicants for technical jobs seem to be pretty clueless), I think it's a good way to address the perceived issues.

[Ron E]

Comments about approach aside, a better way to view the true inventive character of wbeaty is to peruse:
SCIENCE HOBBYIST: Top Page
I am familiar with his website but never looked at the textbook section before.

[SY]

Wow, there's some... interesting stuff there.

[sofaspud]

The Amazing Science website isn't new to me, and there's lots of useful stuff there. On the other hand, making a bunch of noise about perpetual motion machines is no where near the same as actually demonstrating one. And on the other hand (gee, you're so anthrocentric), "It can't be" is also a fine motivator.

[wbeaty]

Originally Posted by Ron E

Do I smell a straw man? Your prose is rife with them.

Again: just go and pick the most egregious offence and post it here. Without examples I have no idea what you mean by "straw man." If there are that many instances as you say, it should be easy.

Originally Posted by Ron E

Don't get me wrong, you have some interesting things to say. Keep it up! Perhaps toning it down a bit will make the pill easier to swallow?

I said this many years ago in the electricity intro:

Sorry if the following is a bit contentious at times. I wrote it in an attempt to get some things off my chest. If you keep watching this site, I'll probably clean it up and make it sound a bit more professional.

When I posted that I received immediate multiple responses: NO DON'T TONE IT DOWN. Apparently everyone wanted me to dig dirt on textbook errors. So I never followed up on my offer.