How did you get into science

[Mountainmike]

In the interests of talking about something else.
I’m fascinated in the stalwarts of this forum, mostly the professionals or trained people.
What was the trigger that got you into science , in a deeper sense than superficial interest .
Sure, most of us had telescopes , took things apart to see how they worked , but wht was the first “ taking it deeper”

For me it was when my dad bought “ Scroggie , foundations of wireless” , I was only just in junior school then.
I was hooked when I saw how all that math seemed to work in practice. I mended our christmas tree lights with a capacitor nicked from a radio. ( lights were Ac then , and the whole string added to mains voltage, nobody considered safety much! )
I wasnt long before I built a few valve circuits , then an oscilloscope. Transistors were rare back then.
from then on I got hooked on the maths of science.

what about others, what was the trigger to go deep?

 

[Larniavc]

The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov.

 

[Bradskii]

The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris: Amazon.com

 

[SelfSim]

... I mended our christmas tree lights with a capacitor nicked from a radio. ( lights were Ac then , and the whole string added to mains voltage, nobody considered safety much! )

Even your descriptions of what you remember was science don't make sense!
How on Earth does a capacitor 'mend' christmas tree lights?

I wasnt long before I built a few valve circuits , then an oscilloscope. Transistors were rare back then.
from then on I got hooked on the maths of science.

How old were you when you supposedly built an oscilloscope?

 

[Mountainmike]

The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov.

sci fi? Interesting.
Although I have heard Verne and HG wells inspired a few.

 

[Mountainmike]

Even your descriptions of what you remember was science don't make sense!
How on Earth does a capacitor 'mend' christmas tree lights?

How old were you when you supposedly built an oscilloscope?

Don’t make sense to you,
it might if you read what was written.

What do you replace bust irreplaceable AC lights with , to avoid over voltage on the rest of the string , without the heat of power resistors? - those were the days you couldn’t just bin stuff if it broke. Nobody had any money.

it may sound small, but that sparked a life long fascination with math. Reactive voltage was real , just like scroggie said!

Answer part b… when it appeared in practical electronics. Late junior schooll. it took a while to scrounge the bits.


@SelfSim, put your history on the thread ,.

 

[SelfSim]

What do you replace bust irreplaceable AC lights with , to avoid over voltage on the rest without the heat of power resistors? - those were the days you couldn’t just bin stuff if it broke. Nobody had any money.

it may sound small, but that sparked a life long fascination with math. Reactive voltage was real !

No .. that still doesn't make any sense.

Light bulbs impose a purely resistive load in an ac circuit. There is no power factor corrective measure needed (or warranted) in an existing circuit having purely resistive components.

My point here is that you sre still unable to clearly articulate the rationale behind light bulb replacement in an ac circuit by direct substitution with a purely capactive component.

 

[Mountainmike]

No .. that still doesn't make any sense.

Light bulbs impose a purely resistive load in an ac circuit. There is no power factor corrective measure needed (or warranted) in an existing circuit having purely resistive components.

My point here is that you sre still unable to clearly articulate the rationale behind light bulb replacement in an ac circuit by direct substitution with a purely capactive component.

It’s a shame you dont understand electronics. Draw yourself a triangle . The remaining resistive load after dead bulbs removed. The reactive load my capacitor. Vector addition to mains voltage, the hypotenuse.
makes me wonder - are you scientifically qualified at all?

now @SelfSim this is my thread,
Post your defining moment for entering science, or butt out.
Either way I will not feed a troll.

 

[SelfSim]

It’s a shame you dont understand electronics. Draw yourself a triangle . The remaining resistive load after dead bulbs removed. The reactive load my capacitor. Vector addition to mains voltage, the hypotenuse.
makes me wonder - are you scientifically qualified at all?

What a dumb answer! When any bulb is removed from an in-series set of Christmas lights, the resistance of the circuit is (effectively) infinite! That's why they don't work after the bulb is blown!
Your vector addition gobbledygook ... is just that!

now @SelfSim this is my thread,
Post your defining moment for entering science, or butt out.
Either way I will not feed a troll.

You have earned none of my trust, (in this thread), from the outset.

You have been challenged with arguments based on Physics .. yet you have responded with nothing more than pure gobbledygook.

 

[Yttrium]

I wanted to know what the stars were.

 

[Mountainmike]

What a dumb answer! When any bulb is removed from an in-series set of Christmas lights, the resistance of the circuit is (effectively) infinite! That's why they don't work after the bulb is blown!
Your vector addition gobbledygook ... is just that!

You have earned none of my trust, (in this thread), from the outset.

You have been challenged with arguments based on Physics .. yet you have responded with nothing more than pure gobbledygook.

Not surprisingly I chopped out the bust pair of lights. The bases were mangled.
rest needed lower voltage. Capacitor used as stated.

You clearly are a troll, or you don’t understand physics. (Which seems more likely from your other posts)
Get Sjastro to teach you some basics - either way since you won’t contribute , no further responses to a troll.

 

[Mountainmike]

I wanted to know what the stars were.

Fine answer.

 

[SelfSim]

I wanted to know how transistors could do what they did in circuits .. and how the Universe got to be how it looked through a telescope.

I wanted to know why stronger magnets made more powerful electric motors and naively thought that the toughest kid on the street must also possess the strongest magnet.

I wanted to know how to make the most spectacular (and threatening) fireworks and why ants smelled so bad when they were incincerated by a magnifying glass. Microscopes also featured heavily.

 

[Mountainmike]

I wanted to know how transistors could do what they did in circuits .. and how the Universe got to be how it looked through a telescope.

I wanted to know why stronger magnets made more powerful electric motors and naively thought that the toughest kid on the street must also possess the strongest magnet.

I wanted to know how to make the most spectacular (and threatening) fireworks and why ants smelled so bad when they were incincerated by a magnifying glass. Microscopes also featured heavily.

Fine answer .
I recollect freezing a few ants with lighter fuel butane cylinders , I later discovered was called adiabatic expansion!
so we were both not so friendly to ants,( all in a scientific cause.)

 

[River Jordan]

Even though MMM hasn't replied to any of my posts, because I like the topic I'll give my short answer.

I've always had a love of, and interest in, biology. I spent most of my childhood outdoors, mucking around in streams, mud, woods, wherever turning over rocks, poking into rotten logs, etc. and not only seeing what was living there but also identifying them down to the species level whenever possible. When I got my first field guide book it was one of the best things ever!

Then when I found out you could go to school and learn not only what all those things were, but how they worked and where they came from, that was all I needed to hear.

There's just nothing like being outside, looking at the natural world, and understanding what you're looking at.

 

[SelfSim]

Get @sjastro to teach you some basics ..

What a laugh! Considering @sjastro, according to you, has no scientific merits whatsoever!

 

[SelfSim]

Fine answer .
I recollect freezing a few ants with lighter fuel butane cylinders , I later discovered was called andiabatic expansion!
so we were both not so friendly to ants,( all in a scientific cause.)

'Andiabatic' expansion???? Does that only happen in India or something?

I have a suggestion: Why don't you stop trying to talk about topics which you can't even be bothered using the correct words for, in this thread?
(It almost starts to look like your real intention was other than expressed in the OP !!)

 

[Mountainmike]

'Andiabatic' expansion???? Does that only happen in India or something?

I have a suggestion: Why don't you stop trying to talk about topics which you can't even be bothered using the correct words for, in this thread?
(It almost starts to look like your real intention was other than expressed in the OP !!)

A phone typo corrected long ago. Troll.

 

[Mountainmike]

Even though MMM hasn't replied to any of my posts, because I like the topic I'll give my short answer.

I've always had a love of, and interest in, biology. I spent most of my childhood outdoors, mucking around in streams, mud, woods, wherever turning over rocks, poking into rotten logs, etc. and not only seeing what was living there but also identifying them down to the species level whenever possible. When I got my first field guide book it was one of the best things ever!

Then when I found out you could go to school and learn not only what all those things were, but how they worked and where they came from, that was all I needed to hear.

There's just nothing like being outside, looking at the natural world, and understanding what you're looking at.

Fine answer
my version of that when young was rockpools.
And mushrooms Fascinated me.
Have you ever read Merlin sheldrakes book on them?
Eg How they attack the nervous systems of ants to do their bidding..

 

[SelfSim]

A phone typo corrected long ago.

Errr .. not!