Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Time	Event
12:47p	Pair Production in Physics In its January 2008 issue, the British magazine Physics World ran a short item about Merva and Tamar Arieli, identical twin sisters who are both graduate students in physics. It said "Physics World knows of only one other pair of identical-twin physicists-- the particle-physicist brothers Fayyazuddin and Riazuddin from Pakistan." Well, I knew of another pair. My letter has now appeared in the April 2008 issue, on page 18: Regarding "Twin paradox" in your January 2008 issue, another notable pair of physicists, who are also identical twins, comes to mind: James and Gregory Benford. James Benford is the CEO of Microwave Sciences and co-author of the book High Power Microwaves. Gregory Benford is professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine, with research interests in plasma physics and astrophysics. He is also an award-winning science fiction novelist, with Timescape, The Martian Race, In the Ocean of Night, and The Sunborn among his works. He has also written nonfiction books and articles, even one for Physics World (in February 1991). They were born in Mobile, Alabama in 1941. As teenagers, the brothers distinguished themselves in the world of science fiction fans in co-editing on the fanzine Void. Both embarked upon careers in physics, and they have continued to collaborate occasionally. (1 Comment | Comment on this)
1:20p	For some time, I've been looking for a copy of Manned Spacecraft Operations, edited by Paul Purser, Maxime A. Faget, and Norman F. Smith. Abebooks often lists copies for $150 or more, but I was looking for an inexpensive one. Last week, I found one for about forty bucks, and ordered it. This book is a compendium of spacecraft engineering as understood by the leaders of Project Apollo in the early Sixties. As the effort moved to Houston and got a lot bigger, they briefed new arrivals in a series of technical lectures. An alternate title might be "How We Plan to Build a Moonship." Lots and lots of wonderful detail, not only on Apollo, but also on Mercury and Gemini. Mission planning. Launch vehicles. Electrical power. Envionmental controls. You can see why I wanted a copy. The bookseller described this as an ex-library copy, with usual markings. When it arrived, I saw that the markings had been eradicated with a black marker. On front and back inside covers, and the reverse of the title page, there had been rubber-stamped notices: Peering closely at the not-quite-eradicated markings, I can just make out what they said. I can see a bit more with my eye, but here's a contrast-stretch which might give you an inkling: That's right. This copy formerly belonged to U. S. AIR FORCE TECHNICAL LIBRARY AIR FORCE FLIGHT TEST CENTER EDWARDS AFB CALIFORNIA I am happy with my purchase. ( Paul Purser on the making of this book: ) (7 Comments | Comment on this)

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