04 February 2019

Shameless self promotion

Please forgive this interruption of shameless self promotion. I have a new writing project that I'd like to share. Over my teaching career, I have written quite a few sets of course notes on analog circuit design and feedback systems. I am occasionally asked if I intend to publish them, but the answer has always been "maybe". This year, I want to turn that "maybe" into a "yes". The short term plan is to polish and release course notes based on the following:
  • Analog Linear Systems
  • Feedback Circuit Techniques
  • Become One with the Transistor
However, I need motivation. Thus, I've created a Patreon. My hope here is that a crowdfunding audience will provide me with the motivation to finish (it's not about the money). If you're interested in following along and helping to motivate me, please visit: Kent Lundberg is creating textbooks on Patreon.

(I actually have a short letter that Jim wrote me many years ago, complementing me on my transistor-circuits course notes, but I've misplaced it.  If I find it, I will scan it and post it here, thereby connecting this writing project back to Jim Williams himself.)

4 comments:

Batsheva said...

I don't know who you are, but I am Jim's younger sister. I have a thermometer that he made and gave me in 1974. It stopped working, and I have talked one of his old friends at MIT into fixing it for me. This individual asked me if I had a schematic. I don't and didn't -- I doubt I knew what a schematic was in 1974, and in any case my brother probably sketched it out on the wallboard of Building 20. Can you refer me to some kind of schematic from his voluminous production that might help?

Thank you so much. He was one of a kind. They threw away the schematic when they made him. Margery

John Vivian said...

Hi Margery,

I just happened to read your comment today, the day before Jim's anniversary. Your brother invented so many different temperature measuring circuits, that it would be difficult to know which schematic to start with. If I had to suggest something, I would look at the actual device he presented to you and try to write down some of the numbers on the ICs or transistors (a photograph would be great as knowing which numbers to relate can be tricky). With that information, you might be able to increase the odds of correlating a published schematic with the circuit.

If you have already located a friend of Jim's to do the work, I think you made a wise decision, as that person knows your brother's mindset, and he will either trace the circuit out and fix it, or correlate it with a schematic and use that to save a little time.

As always, so many of us miss your brother's contributions to the art.

I have a pretty complete set of Jim's published articles, and if you think I can be of any help, please let me know.

John

Beautynow - Sakura - Decumar said...

If you have already located a friend of Jim's to do the work with GEL TRỊ MỤN , I think you made a wise decision, as that person knows your brother's mindset DECUMAR PURE DECUMAR

DG said...

Sorry to see : no new entries here for five years now.