A Thank You

This is to express my appreciation to all who included their membership number when renewing subscriptions. Some wrote their number on checks, letters, and/or envelopes. Others just returned the “Time To Renew” reminder. And a few sent in the mailing label from their TCBA envelopes. Thanks a bunch guys (and gals) for easing the burden of book keeping.

‘King Kook of Coils’

Elsewhere in this issue are reports of two major Teslathons. I was fortunate in being able to attend the gathering at Ed Wingate's LAB. It is difficult to put into words the excitement one experiences when mixing with fellow Teslathonians. I was amazed by the extent of knowledge carried by those in attendance. One could move from group-to-group and inhale the intellectual atmospherics. I listened to each discussion as eagerly as a student embarking on a first TC project. Overheard was a conversation between two participants (looking in my direction). “Who is that person,” asked one? The reply came from an attractive young lady. “Oh,” she remarked, “he's the ‘King Kook of Coils.’” I wear my crown with great pride.

Frankenstein: The Science & the Myth

The Bakken Museum of Electricity in Life is offering a horrific demonstration on the Frankenstein theme. “It's Alive, The Science and Myth of Frankenstein” includes a representation of a human cadaver, working electrical apparatus, movie posters from Frankenstein films, and two daily showings of the Universal 1931 production. There is also a display of books by early electro-medical experimenters going back to the 1500s as well as a first edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein story.

Earl Bakken, after whom the museum is named, began his interest in medical electricity upon first seeing the 1931 Frankenstein film when he was 9 years of age. Bakken was founder of Medtronic Inc. and developer of sophisticated pacemakers. For more information, write to the Bakken Museum of Electricity in Life at 3537 Zenith Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55416.

Sparks and Shocks

The Bakken Library and Museum of Electricity in Life is offering the new book Sparks and Shocks: Experiments from the Golden Age of Static Electricity. The various chapters and indices provide construction details for very nearly every piece of electrical apparatus available to the 18th-century investigator. It is intended as a teacher's text in junior and senior high school science classes and includes experiments that work with children as young as fourth grade. The book is $14.95 plus $2.50 shipping and handling and is available from the address given in the previous paragraph.

A Tesla Collider Is in the Works

“Europeon nuclear physicists have revealed an ambitous plan to build the world's most powerful electron beam at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg. The new accelerator would be part of the TESLA linear electron-positron collider that might be built...TESLA would, in effect be a 100 GeV X-ray laser that could be used in a range of experiments in condensed matter physics, materials science, chemistry, and biology...Work on the linear accelerator is already being carried out as part of the TESLA project.” (tip from R.G. Kent from Physics World, 10/'95)

UC #3

A third 1995 Unscheduled Convention took place in late October when Jeff Mullins arrived at TCBA headquarters. Jeff is not only a phenomenal TC builder but is a computer engineer, martial arts instructor, and a man of super strength. I found that out when I attempted to move my 150 pound X-ray transformer. It didn't move. Jeff picked it up and carried it to a selected area for storage. I hope that Jeff comes back because I have quite a few heavy items that need transporting.

One of the apparatus that caught Jeff's attention was my shock machine. It wasn't working properly so we began to dismantle it. When we finally got it apart, the work bench looked like a component section in an electronic's surplus store. Once the shock machine was repaired, we began diddling with Violet Ray machines. If you ever saw two kids just waiting to get into trouble, then that's who we looked like. What fun!