Did you ever get the feeling that you were meant for another life? As I struggled through the courses as a Freshman in college, I spent a lot of time dreaming up inventions, thinking up ways to apply the laws of physics to the real world. I filled a composition book with ideas, applications and wild theories of space communication between worlds. I would never realize a penny from these mind exercises but I never lost the feeling that I was meant to be a scientist.
One experiment caught the eye of my physics professor. Using the polarizing properties of cellophane of different thicknesses, I created a small scene with a house, a picket fence, a sky with clouds and a garden. This round transparent slide had no intrinsic color, but when viewed in a small polarizing tube, the rotating ends produced an infinite variety of brilliant colors in millions of combinations. The professor was astounded at the technology and sat staring through the device for twenty minutes.
Other inventions of mine on paper included a method of three dimensional TV without the use of glasses, an improved torsion bar automobile suspension, and a method of using wind pressure to recharge the batteries in an all-electric car. My love of automobiles prompted many ideas. Some of the better ones were a disappearing car cover, ever-clean wheel covers, and clear plastic bumper protectors. Not a risk taker, I never had enough confidence in my inventions to borrow the money for a patent. My enjoyment lay in the challenge of solving a problem or fulfilling a need.
Once, a friend of mine revealed that his company was working on a space satellite device to detect changes in attitude and direction. They needed a sensor that would work in every direction of the globe and be sensitive to changes in motion and direction. I came up with a device consisting of a weighted gold- plated globe inside another globe covered in minute gold spring-loaded contacts. Any motion of the inside globe would close certain contacts on the outside globe, indicating the direction and intensity of the motion. These signals would be used to direct the positioning jets on the satellite. I never found out if they used my suggestion. In another life, I coulda been a contender.
Retired portrait photographer. What?
