Animals
The Devil’s Bird
Some of you may have not read any comments by myself regarding swifts during the Summer months, usually noting their arrival, their numbers and when they leave. I’m not quite sure why but for me, [more…]
Articles by rattuscatchus
20th Century
Pobjoy Aero-engines
Born in 1894, Douglas Rudolf Pobjoy later studied engineering locally at Bristol University. Pobjoy abandoned his studies when the first World War broke out by enlisting in the Army Service Corps and was sent to [more…]
Engineering
The new bus for London – the original Routemaster
London’s tram network was equally loved and hated by its users and those inconvenienced by it. On the one hand, it was a reliable method of getting about however tracks were expensive to lay and [more…]
Authoritarianism
How I learned to despise the left and fear the bomb
It was during an English lesson during the late 1970s – English lessons were never about spelling, grammar, creative writing, etymology, poetry or literature, always, always politics – when a short term supply teacher told [more…]
Christianity
Going to Church
As a nipper, I was brought up in what was a fairly typical, English family. Mum, Dad, siblings and normal sorts of stuff. We were what I call typical Church of England. We all went [more…]
Physics
How does a LASER work?
In my youth, I was an avid reader of Electronics Today International. Not only did it cover the more hefty electronic DIY projects but it also liked to look forward in terms of technology and [more…]
Engineering
Operation PLUTO
Whilst discussing the future liberation of Europe in 1942, Lord Louis Moutbatten discussed how fuel could be supplied to an invading army with the Minister in charge of the Petroleum Warfare Department, Geoffrey Lloyd. Previously, [more…]
Engineering
Fog and FIDO
Fog is a bit of a bugger. It reduces visibility, is patchy and is somewhat unpredictable but what is fog? Fog is condensed water droplets that appear close to the surface of the earth. It [more…]
Physics
Energy levels of atoms
(or why shoving a red hot poker where the sun doesn’t shine is an experiment in quantum physics) In my previous artlicle, we had a brief look at spectroscopy and how atoms of different elements [more…]