An Interview with Forrest Mims - Snell Solisequious Scientist

The Amp Hour · 13 Nov 2013 · 1h 32m · Episode 171

What this episode covers

Forrest Mims, the prolific electronics author and amateur atmospheric scientist, discusses his journey from building early rocket flashers to co-founding MITS, the company that produced the Altair 8800. He details the creation of his hand-lettered Radio Shack books, the technical challenges of long-term scientific instrumentation using LEDs, and his controversial work exposing errors in NASA satellite data. Mims also reflects on the decline of hobby electronics, the rise of the maker movement, and his current research into atmospheric optics.

Mentioned

Companies
MITS, Radio Shack, Texas Instruments, NASA, Bell Labs, Western Electric
Products
Altair 8800, Atari Punk Console
Chips
555 timer
Also
Popular Electronics, Ed Bonin, Ed Roberts, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Scientific American, Nature, Make Magazine, Nuts and Volts, Hans Camenzind, Steve Wozniak

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