WILLIAM J. BEATY

Links

• More about billb, also FAQ
• Staff website at U. of Washington
• Various large Art devices, and some inventions
• How electricity really works (articles here)
• Physics Sermon #49
• A 'shocking' career
• Various videos
• On physics misconceptions and 'nitpicking'
• Website FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Answering science questions at madsci.org
• Strong opinions on the Benefits of 'Pseudoscience'
• Websites: THE SCIENCE CLUB, SCIENCE HOBBYIST
• Photo

Television

• "William Shatner's Weird or What?", Cineflix Productions, Season 2 #8, Electrical Powers (youtube)
• "The Truth About Traffic" Discovery chan., Silent Crow Arts, 2009 ( vimeo clips)
• "Black Blizzard" History chan., Engel Entertainment 2008 (youtube)
• "A Machine to Die For" Discovery.ca, Eliot Jarvis Productions 2003 (youtube)
• NPA Conference 2010 no new Einsteins?
• Dark Side of Amateur Science 2001

Invited papers

• Abrasion holography

  Co-author papers

• Oblique Effect
• ALS disease
• vision psychophysics equp: response unit

  cv

• BSEE U. Rochester NY, 1980
• html version
• msWord .doc

William J. Beaty 6632 Corson Ave S. Seattle, WA 98108 206-762-3818

At the moment I'm a Research Engineer on staff at the University of Washington in Seattle:

Computer Electronic Services, Chemistry Department
Box 351700
( Bagley Hall 74, U. of Washington)
Seattle, WA 98195-1700
Lat 47.6534, Long -122.3091

In the past I've spent time as an embedded designer and software engineer, consulted on textbooks, lectured about electricity education, designed science projects for kids, and built physics exhibits while running the electronics dept. at the Museum of Science in Boston.

Today I spend my free time running SCIENCE HOBBYIST, a large website for amateur science and science education. You'll also find me hanging out on the PHYS-L physics education forum, holding forth about various ways to explain all things electrical.

I was born in the US but I was raised on the island of Guam, which gave me a bit of an "outsider" viewpoint which I've carefully tried to preserve. And when you're in 3rd grade while both your parents are school teachers, it gives you a critical eye regarding the foibles of educators. I was bitten by the science bug at an early age and had fun with a chemistry set, but I soon discovered where the REAL magic was hidden: hobbyist electronics. Even more magical is the Black Art of electrostatics. And to search for traces of true magic in the sciences, nothing beats actual magic.